Las Vegas restaurants accused of sexual harassment by federal agency
Several Southern Nevada restaurants, including Bouchon Las Vegas by celebrity chef Thomas Keller, are being accused of sexual harassment in four lawsuits filed this week by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.
Lawsuits filed against Bouchon, the Laughlin River Lodge resort-casino, Mariscos El Puerto and La Catrina allege sexual harassment toward employees by owners, supervisors and management, co-workers and/or customers, according to a Thursday news release from the federal agency.
The four lawsuits included allegations raised by workers throughout the hospitality industry, from housekeepers in hotels to waitstaff. The EEOC also filed a separate complaint against Mariscos El Puerto and La Catrina alleging verbal harassment and physical assault against gay and lesbian employees, court records show.
“What happens in Vegas, does not stay silent in Vegas. There are consequences for these actions and the EEOC will not sit by idly as employers allow their workers to be harassed by colleagues, supervisors, and even the customers,” Michael Mendoza, director of the EEOC’s Las Vegas office, said in a statement. “This should serve as a wake-up call for employers. The EEOC will hold you accountable for violating federal law.”
The restaurants being sued couldn’t immediately be reached for comment by the Las Vegas Review-Journal regarding the lawsuits.
Ann McGinley, a professor at UNLV’s Boyd Law School, said it was “extremely important” that the EEOC office took on these type of cases. Typically, sexual harassment cases are brought by an individual and are settled or otherwise handled quietly, limiting the impact on a system.
“But I think frankly, when you have the EEOC taking this on with a number of complaints, in other words from a number of employees, you can’t say it’s just that crazy employee,” McGinley said. “It’s actually something that’s serious that the defendants have to take into account.”
The allegations
In a suit against Nevada Restaurant Services — the owner and operator of the Laughlin River Lodge — the EEOC alleges that the company “tolerated sexual harassment” since at least 2018. Female employees in a range of service jobs were subjected to harassment by front and back-of-house male staff, the lawsuit alleges.
The complaint also alleges hotel management didn’t properly investigate the harassment claims and failed to prevent future harm. In one instance, a 19-year-old housekeeper complained to human resources that her harasser groped her, threatened to rape her and blocked her in hotel rooms she was cleaning.
“She was reprimanded the next day for supposedly not cleaning thoroughly enough when she was traumatized by the harassment and told if it happened again, she would be fired,” the complaint states.
The EEOC also says that since at least 2018, managers at Bouchon Las Vegas, an upscale French restaurant in The Venetian, sexually harassed female and male employees on a daily basis. It also said some employees who complained faced retaliation by forcing them to work with their harasser, leading to their resignation.
“Male employees in various positions frequently engaged in sexually harassing behavior as well, including: asking female employees to engage in sexual acts such as oral sex in various locations such as the walk-in freezer,” according to the complaint against Bouchon.
Keller is not named as a defendent in the case, court records show.
In the case involving Mariscos El Puerto and La Catrina — a Mexican seafood restaurant in Las Vegas with a neighboring bar operating under the same management — the EEOC alleges that since 2015, male staff members and customers subjected female workers to sexual harassment.
Aggrieved employees who spoke out were retaliated against by cutting their hours, reassigning their shifts, threatening them with violence, termination and blacklisting, and ultimately firing them, according to the complaint.
In a separate case, the EEOC alleges that Mariscos and La Catrina management denied a male busser a promotion because he was “too gay” to be a server. It also alleges verbal harassment to the employee and a lesbian employee, and physical assault against the female employee for her sexual orientation.
In all the cases, the EEOC said it sued after first attempting to reach a pre-litigation settlement.
The EEOC said survivors of harassment at any of the listed restaurants should contact its office at 702-660-8383 or eeocnevada@eeoc.gov.
McKenna Ross is a corps member with Report for America, a national service program that places journalists into local newsrooms. Contact her at mross@reviewjournal.com. Follow @mckenna_ross on X.
