Celebrity chef Thomas Keller’s Bouchon Las Vegas restaurant and his Napa Valley-based dining-ventures company have agreed to settle a labor regulator’s lawsuit that claimed certain managers at the venue sexually harassed employees.
The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission said Wednesday it reached an agreement in which KVP LLC (Bouchon) and KRM Inc. (Thomas Keller Restaurant Group) will pay $2 million and “provide other relief.”
The EEOC had sued the companies in Nevada federal district court in August 2023, claiming that since at least 2018 female and male employees faced daily harassment including “unwanted and repeated sexual advances, sexual comments, sexually offensive conduct, and unwelcome physical contact” and the organizations allegedly didn’t take “appropriate and effective action.” Some employees who complained supposedly faced retaliation.
Attempts to settle the case before litigation weren’t successful, the agency said.
“Sexual harassment is illegal and continues to be a problem in the restaurant industry,” said Beatriz Andre, acting regional attorney for the EEOC’s Los Angeles District, which includes Las Vegas in its jurisdiction, in the announcement Wednesday. “As it did in this action, the EEOC will continue to enforce federal law.”
A Bouchon representative Wednesday had harsh words for the EEOC.
“It is disappointing when a public agency relies on self-congratulatory, deliberately misleading clickbait headlines to distract from its own current internal and external issues,” said the statement provided to the Journal. “Bouchon Las Vegas continues to prioritize evaluating and improving workplace health and welfare initiatives, and elected to resolve these nearly decade-old claims to dedicate resources to our staff and guests instead of litigation.”
A source close to the restaurant said most of the managers involved in the complaints haven’t worked for the company for several years and most of the employees who submitted the complaints haven’t worked there in more than five years.
Keller’s restaurants have faced labor lawsuits in the past decade.
For example, Per Se in New York and The French Laundry in Napa Valley faced a lawsuit in 2016 seeking $5 million in damages for alleged sex discrimination and violation of pregnancy leave. A Napa jury three years later found in favor of the Keller ventures.
But on appeal the judge in the case ordered a retrial, saying that the verdict didn’t align with the evidence and that jurors and defense attorneys acted inappropriately. Plaintiff Vanessa Scott-Allen took the case to California appellate court but dropped it amid talk of a settlement, according to court records.
More recently, The French Laundry in March was hit with a lawsuit from former dishwasher Elena Flores Beteta at the exclusive Yountville establishment, claiming she and over 50 employees were underpaid per state law. Napa County judge Joseph Solga on July 1 granted the restaurant group’s request to halt proceedings and compel arbitration, according to court records. A hearing is set for Aug. 27.
Another North Bay company not affiliated with Keller, the Marin County-based Il Fornaio restaurant chain, is trying to reach a settlement with the EEOC in an August 2022 lawsuit. That lawsuit includes graphic allegations of sexual harassment by supervisors and coworkers at 17 of its 20 locations, including Corte Madera, between 2015 and 2019 and of mishandling reports of the claimed incidents.
The case had been set for trial this fall in a Los Angeles federal court, but the agency and company have been working toward a settlement this spring and summer, according to court filings. A hearing is set for Aug. 19.
Jeff Quackenbush joined North Bay Business Journal in May 1999. Reach him at jeff@nbbj.news or 707-521-4256.
