Settlement of Outback lawsuit means $16 million for women

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Outback Steakhouse has agreed to pay $19 million to settle a lawsuit that alleged its company-owned restaurants practiced “glass ceiling” sex discrimination.

The settlement is expected to involve thousands of women who worked at hundreds of company-owned restaurants around the country.

The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission said Tuesday that the settlement closed a lawsuit filed in 2006.

An administrator will send letters to all women who
were employed at corporately owned Outback restaurants any time from
2002 to now and who had or have at least three years of tenure.

The settlement will be administered through a claims process to qualified women.

The commission alleged in the lawsuit that women hit
a glass ceiling and couldn’t get promoted into higher-level,
profit-sharing management positions.

The lawsuit also alleged that women were denied
kitchen management experience, which was required to be considered for
top management jobs in the restaurants.

Outback agreed to a consent decree signed in federal court in Denver.

The decree requires the company to institute an
online application process for employees interested in managerial
positions, to employ a human resources executive at the corporate vice
president level, and to employ an outside consultant for two years to
analyze compliance.

Rita Kittle, senior trial attorney for the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, said she thought the settlement would allow women a fair opportunity to advance in Outback-owned restaurants.

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