Chipotle to Pay $20,000 in EEOC Religious Harassment Lawsuit

KANSAS CITY, Kan. – National restaurant chain Chipotle Services, Inc. will pay $20,000 and furnish other relief to settle a U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) religious harassment, retaliation, and constructive discharge lawsuit, the federal agency announced today.

The EEOC suit alleged that in July 2021, at a Lenexa, Kansas, Chipotle restaurant, a supervisor began harassing one of his employees because of her religion. The employee, a teenager at the time, is a devout Muslim and wears a hijab head covering in observance of her faith. Her supervisor repeatedly asked her to remove her hijab and expose her hair. She rebuffed the requests and explained the religious significance of the hijab. Then, on Aug. 9, 2021, after again pressuring her to take off her hijab, the supervisor grabbed her head scarf and partially removed it himself. She immediately reported the incident, and tendered her two weeks’ notice the next day, the EEOC said.

The EEOC’s lawsuit further charged that Chipotle then refused to schedule the teen for the duration of her notice period in retaliation for her complaint.

Such alleged conduct violated Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which prohibits workplace harassment based on religion as well as retaliation for complaints of religious harassment. The EEOC filed suit (EEOC v. Chipotle Services, Inc., Civil Action 2:23-cv-02439) in U.S. District Court for the District of Kansas after first attempting to reach a pre-litigation settlement through its administrative conciliation process.

In addition to the $20,000 in monetary relief, the three-year decree settling the suit requires Chipotle to provide training to line employees in the Lenexa, Kansas, area three times a year on harassment and religious discrimination. The decree also requires Chipotle to regularly train supervisory personnel regarding Title VII and religious discrimination. The company must also report to the EEOC any complaints of religious harassment that occur during the pendency of the decree.

“Freedom of religion is a bedrock value of American society,” said Andrea G. Baran, regional attorney for the EEOC’s St. Louis District Office. “No one should be harassed at work because of their religious beliefs or practices, and employers must not permit their employees – especially their supervisors – to ridicule or assault workers because of their most deeply held personal beliefs. This decree will ensure Chipotle’s employees, whatever their religion, enjoy the law’s protection.”

David S. Davis, director of the EEOC’s St. Louis District office, said, “This consent decree not only provides compensation for the violation of rights secured by federal law, but it also ensures the company will work to protect the right of all employees to be free from religious discrimination or harassment, whatever their beliefs.”

For more information on religious discrimination, please visit https://www.eeoc.gov/religious-discrimination. For more information on retaliation, please visit https://www.eeoc.gov/retaliation. For more information on harassment, please visit https://www.eeoc.gov/harassment.

The EEOC’s Youth@Work webpage (at http://www.eeoc.gov/youth/ ) presents information for teens and other young workers about employment discrimination, including curriculum guides for students and teachers and videos to help young workers learn about their rights and responsibilities.

The EEOC’s St. Louis District Office is responsible for addressing discrimination charges and conducting agency litigation in Missouri, Kansas, Oklahoma, Nebraska and a portion of southern Illinois.

The EEOC is the sole federal agency authorized to investigate and litigate against businesses and other private sector employers for violations of federal laws prohibiting employment discrimination. For public sector employers, the EEOC shares jurisdiction with the Department of Justice’s Civil Rights Division; the EEOC is responsible for investigating charges against state and local government employers before referring them to DOJ for potential litigation. The EEOC also is responsible for coordinating the federal government’s employment antidiscrimination effort. More information about the EEOC is available at www.eeoc.gov. Stay connected with the latest EEOC news by subscribing to our email updates.