By SHAWN McGRATH
A former Anderson steakhouse server won a $75,000 settlement from the restaurant after managers failed to act when a pair of customers continuously harassed her based on her children’s race.
U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission filed a federal lawsuit in September on behalf of Alia Dollar against Indianapolis-based CMR Partners LLP, the owner of Ponderosa Steakhouse, 2006 S. Scatterfield Road. The EEOC reached the settlement on Dollar’s behalf on June 27.
Michelle Eisele, supervisory trial attorney with the EEOC in Indianapolis, said Dollar, who is white, began working at the restaurant as a server in July 2003. A married couple who regularly ate at the restaurant started harassing Dollar in August 2004, after Dollar brought her biracial children into the restaurant on a day off.
“They said really ugly things to her within earshot of co-workers,” Eisele said. “N-word-loving b---- or n-word-loving w----. That kind of thing. They didn’t want to be served by her.
“They were fine with her until they saw her on her day off with her children.”
A telephone listing for Dollar could not be located and she couldn’t be reached for comment.
Eisele said Ponderosa managers knew of the harassment and failed to stop it. The harassment continued on and off for over a year, and the couple, who wasn’t named in the EEOC’s complaint, would bring in presents for all of the employees except Dollar, Eisele said. The couple would also invite all of the employees to parties and exclude her.
Dollar left the company in January 2006. Eisele didn’t know how many children Dollar has, but said she was still living in Anderson.
“The thing is that the employer allowed this to go on,” Eisele said. “It’s a very unusual case. It’s not your usual race-based case.”
The customers were ultimately asked not to come to the restaurant, and the person who managed the Ponderosa at the time is no longer with the company.
“I think the manager thought (the couple) have a First Amendment right and that’s who they are and they’re really good customers,” Eisele said.
Also as part of the settlement, CMR Partners agreed to train employees on policies prohibiting discrimination and race-based harassment.
The company also agreed to post an EEOC sign stating, “CMR’s managers are expected to ensure that their employees are not subjected to harassment prohibited by law, including harassment by co-workers, customers, or other parties with whom CMR does business,” according to a release from the EEOC announcing the settlement.
The company was also required to provide Dollar with a positive reference letter.
Brian Ripley, president of CMR, said the company settled the lawsuit because of the costs associated with taking the case to court. He said the company denied any wrongdoing as part of the settlement.
“We’re happy to get the issue behind us,” said Ripley, declining to discuss the case further. “We elected to settle the issue instead of proceeding to court.
“We look forward to many more years in Anderson.”
The steakhouse has been a staple restaurant along Scatterfield since 1974, and CMR bought the location in 1999. CMR owns nine Ponderosas across Indiana, from Goshen near the Michigan state line to Madison, along the Ohio River.
