CA1: quick action by Chili’s general manager saves them cash

Forrest v. Brinker International, No. 07-1714.  This is a sexual harassment/Title VII case against Chili’s.  It seems like the plaintiff dated a co-worker, who, when the relationship soured called her all sorts of names.  The employer told him to stop it, or in the words of the court, “Hadjaissa terminated Vashaw after he admitted that he had told Forrest she was fat and needed to go to the gym, though he denied calling her a whore.”  (We lawyers have much more mature ways of being jerks, now don’t we?)  Then restraining orders followed.  Everyone agrees that Vashaw’s behavior was based on her sex (though there is some discussion of whether “failed relationship” sexual harassment is different than just pure jerky sexual harassment).   Moreover, there is information in the record that Chilis knew what was going on.  But Chili’s wins because Chili’s took “prompt and aggressive action” to stop it, and “given the undisputed facts here, no reasonable jury could conclude that Chili's response was not prompt and appropriate.”

So, there you have it folks, prompt action by the manager of a Chili’s, Claude Hadjaissa, saved Chili’s a lot of cash and made Chili's a better place to work.  I expect that Chili’s will be offering deep discounts on whatever kind of food they sell.  (I have never personally been to a Chili’s because I was born to eat the kind of food that summer associates are served.)

Update: This page at Chili's site promises "Fun."  Chili's also has a Myspace page, which contains no mention of this lawsuit.  It doesn't list any of the players in this lawsuit as "Friends."