BUFFALO, N.Y. — An Amherst restaurant will have to pay a hefty fine, and the owner won't be allowed to supervise employees, after a settlement was reached in a lawsuit regarding sexual harassment in the work place.
The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) said that Protocol Restaurant owner and manager Paul Pelczynski created a hostile work environment for his employees.
The lawsuit EEOC filed described that Pelczynski would sexually harass female employees, including physically, and would then fire employees who objected to the harassment or employees would quit because of it.
Protocol of Amherst, Inc., will have to pay $90,000 to those victims as a settlement for the suit.
“I applaud the women who came forward and exposed the long-standing hostile work environment at Protocol Restaurant, and I hope this settlement provides some measure of justice for the workers,” said former EEOC Trial Attorney Elizabeth Fox-Solomon, who litigated this case along with Supervisory Trial Attorney Kimberly Cruz.
Pelczynski's lawyer said in a statement that his client acknowledges the resolution of the suit, but says that "Protocol and Mr. Pelczynski have always denied any wrongdoing and always denied each of the unproven allegations in the EEOC’s lawsuit."
While the restaurant permanently closed in early 2020, there's also a three-year consent decree. During those three years, Pelczynski is not allowed to supervise or manage restaurant employees.
“No one should be forced to endure sexual advances or inappropriate physical contact to earn a living. The EEOC is committed to ensuring that all workers are free from sexual harassment on the job," added EEOC New York District Director Judy Keenan.
Pelczynski's lawyer, R. Scott DeLuca, of Kavinoky Cook LLP, said in a statement to 2 On Your Side that "the parties agreed to settle the case in order to avoid the significant expense and massive burden of further litigation—especially the burden and expense faced when a private party must defend against a claim asserted by the U.S. government."
