Feds sue Waikiki bar over sexual harassment claims
STAR-ADVERTISER / 2015
The owners of Snappers Sports Bar and Grill, located at 1778 Ala Moana Blvd., are being sued by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission over sexual harassment of female employees.
The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission is suing the owners of Pacific Fun Enterprises LLC, dba Snappers Sports Bar and Grill and Snap-ette Beach and Liquor Store for sexual harassment of female employees.
The class-action lawsuit said that multiple workers complained that the bar’s owner, managers and customers “subjected female employees to repeated sexual harassment in the form of unwelcome sexual comments, unwanted touching and leering at the female employees’ body parts.”
However, the company failed to take corrective action and the employees left the job to avoid further harassment, the federal agency said.
The EEOC filed the complaint in U.S. District Court for the District of Hawaii and is seeking back pay, benefits and other damages.
The bar’s owners, Michael and Colleen Wenzel, could not be reached for comment immediately.
“We continue to see sexual harassment cases in our region and we urge employers to take proactive steps to prevent such misconduct before it begins,” Anna Park, regional attorney for the EEOC’s Los Angeles District, which includes Hawaii, said in a news release.
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