Mid Atlantic Dairy Queen to Pay $145,000 to Resolve EEOC Sexual Harassment Charges

NORFOLK, Va. — Franklin, Virginia-based Mid Atlantic Dairy Queen, LLC, doing business as Dairy Queen, entered into conciliation agreements with the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) to resolve two sexual harassment charges, the federal agency announced today.

The agreements resolve charges where the EEOC’s investigation found reasonable cause to believe the company violated federal anti-discrimination law by allowing two former employees who worked at the company’s Granby Street location in Norfolk and the Landstown location in Virginia Beach to sexually harass multiple female workers from approximately July 2022 to February 2023, including some who were teenagers at the time. The harassers repeatedly made inappropriate sexual comments and engaged in unwelcome physical contact. The investigation found that Mid Atlantic Dairy Queen knew or should have known of the harassment and failed to take corrective action or remedial measures.

“This resolution serves as a reminder that employers must take prompt, appropriate action when they learn that sexual harassment has occurred in the workplace,” said EEOC Norfolk Local Office Director Norberto Rosa-Ramos. “Mid Atlantic Dairy Queen has committed to preventing and addressing sex discrimination, including training its decision makers to ensure adherence to applicable laws and regulations.”

The company’s alleged conduct violated Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which prohibits discrimination on the basis of sex, including sexual harassment.

Following the EEOC’s investigation of the charges, the parties engaged in the EEOC’s pre-litigation conciliation process, resulting in settlements requiring Mid Atlantic Dairy Queen, LLC to provide monetary relief totaling $100,000 for two employees who filed charges as well as $45,000 for a group of five other female employees who experienced a sexually hostile work environment.

The agreements also require the company to establish or update all written policies and procedures prohibiting discrimination on the basis of sex, prohibiting harassment and prohibiting retaliation for complaining about, reporting, or otherwise opposing such discrimination. In addition, the employer agreed to conduct sexual harassment prevention training for leadership and employees, to be monitored for compliance for three years, and to post a workplace notice regarding the resolution of these matters and the laws enforced by the EEOC.

For more information about sexual harassment, visit: https://www.eeoc.gov/sexual-harassment. For more information on the EEOC’s Youth@Work initiative, including educational resources for young workers, please visit https://www.eeoc.gov/youth.

The EEOC’s Charlotte District has jurisdiction over Virginia, North Carolina and South Carolina.

The EEOC is the sole federal agency authorized to investigate and litigate against businesses and other private sector employers for violations of federal laws prohibiting employment discrimination. For public sector employers, the EEOC shares jurisdiction with the Department of Justice’s Civil Rights Division; the EEOC is responsible for investigating charges against state and local government employers before referring them to DOJ for potential litigation. The EEOC also is responsible for coordinating the federal government’s employment antidiscrimination effort. More information about the EEOC is available at www.eeoc.gov. Stay connected with the latest EEOC news by subscribing to our email updates.