After four months of weekly picketing by a support network, immigrant workers who charged sexual harassment against their supervisor at an Outback Steakhouse have won a settlement.
One woman was fired after complaining about her treatment and two other workers quit after they claimed they were also harassed. Most of the kitchen workers at the restaurant are immigrants. The workers sought help from Unidad Latina en Accion, New Haven’s immigrant rights group. Almost every Friday night at 7 p.m. from December to March, a small or large group gathered on the sidewalk bordering Washington Avenue, several hundred feet in front of the restaurant, which was on the far side of a parking lot. (Click here for a video and story of an early protest.)
The picket gained support from the Greater New Haven Central Labor Council, women’s groups, and concerned individuals, demanding justice for the workers. Finally, attorneys from the chain’s national headquarters in Florida flew up to meet with the former workers and members of the community. Unidad leader Fatima Rojas (pictured on the left, with her daughter, Amber, and fellow ULA member Megan Fountain) says as a result of these negotiations, the kitchen supervisor was fired.
“We as a group we are satisfied,” she said, “and the workers are satisfied, because this is something unusual, that big corporations sit down at the table and talk with the community. We are so happy; we have so many allies in this struggle, because by ourselves it could not be possible.”
Neither side would comment in any detail on the settlement. Rojas did say the workers would not be returning to the restaurant. Outback vice-president Joe Kadow said only that his company did not admit liability and prides itself on its “very good employee relations.”