BUCKHEAD, Ga. — An Atlanta brewery has been ordered to pay $115,000 in a race discrimination and retaliation lawsuit after a former employee filed a complaint.
Jerrell McGirt, a former sous chef at Iron Hill Brewery and Restaurant, began working at the restaurant's Buckhead location in November 2021.
Only eight months into McGirt's employment, he said he began noticing signs of racial discrimination. In June 2021, McGirt complained to the regional manager about women, African-American and Hispanic employees being mistreated in the workplace.
According to the lawsuit filed by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, a few days after making his initial complaint, McGirt made another complaint to his general manager, executive chef and acting supervisor. The second complaint alleged the "trainers were mistreating employees and disrespectfully speaking to employees."
By the end of June, McGirt filed a total of four complaints.
At the beginning of July, McGirt was allegedly sent home and told not to return so that the managing staff could review any previous write-ups after "[asking] his acting supervisor to 'treat him like a human being.'"
Although McGirt had no previous infractions, during his time away from work, he was told by both his front-of-house supervisor and acting general manager that Iron Hill Brewery management wanted to fire him because he was vocal about the discrimination happening at the restaurant.
The lawsuit claims that after McGirt was sent home, he sent an email to Iron Hill claiming he was spoken to disrespectfully and that "many of the employees and recently separated employees have . . . concerns of verbal abuse, verbal assault, discrimination and mistreatment because of gender; and discrimination and mistreatment because [of] both race and citizenship . . . "
In addition, McGirt reported a female employee was forced to "express breast milk" in a public bathroom because managers refused to leave the restaurant's private office.
On July 11, 2021, McGirt received a message from a fellow sous chef telling him to "tone it down" and "stop being a coon." In response, McGirt asserted he would not do anything "fireable," but he would not be intimated or taken advantage of.
However, McGirt was fired that same day. The lawsuit argued that this violated Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which protects employees from racial discrimination or retaliation from complaining about it.
“Employees should feel free to report discrimination without fear of retaliation when they see behavior in the workplace that violates Title VII,” Marcus G. Keegan, regional attorney for the EEOC’s Atlanta District Office, said in a release. “This lawsuit serves as a reminder to employers that federal law prohibits terminating employees when they speak up about workplace discrimination.”
In June, Iron Hill Brewery agreed to pay McGirt $115,000 in monetary relief.
Iron Hill Brewery has also committed to implementing an anti-retaliation policy, notices that enforce Title VII requirements and nationwide training that demonstrates unlawful retaliation in the workplace.
“This settlement sends a strong message that the EEOC will continue to vindicate the rights of individuals with the courage to come forward to report discrimination against themselves or others in the workplace," Keegan said.
1Alive reached out to both the company and the company's lawyer for comment but has not heard back.