Pam Araiza, a Latina employee in Darden restaurants from 2007 until 2020, is one of the plaintiffs in the lawsuit. The complaint said that Darden’s restaurants used a “subminimum wage” tip policy that caused women and employees of color to be paid less than their white male counterparts. The lawsuit was based on alleged violations of Title VII of the federal Civil Rights Act of 1964, but not necessarily in the way you might expect. One Fair Wage Says Tipping Policy Perpetuated Discrimination It said that the company’s policies - specifically those related to tipped wages - exposed workers to sexual harassment and racial bias. The lawsuit, filed in California’s federal district court, followed on the heels of four separate complaints at the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) on behalf of employees in New York, Washington DC, and California last September. Darden Restaurant Group owns and controls more than 1,800 chain restaurants, employing 175,000 workers, including thousands who work on tips. On April 15, 2021, the non-profit advocacy group One Fair Wage (OFW) filed a discrimination lawsuit against Darden Restaurants, the parent company for popular chains like Olive Garden, LongHorn Steakhouse, and Capital Grille. Olive Garden Parent Company Comes Under Fire for Discrimination

Can working on tips perpetuate racial or gender discrimination at work? The advocacy group One Fair Wage has filed a lawsuit against industry giant Darden Restaurants arguing that the company’s tips policy caused racial discrimination and sexual harassment by its customers to go unchecked.

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