Kickback Jack’s Sued by EEOC for Failing to Hire Males for Front-of-House Positions

GREENSBORO, N.C. – Battleground Restaurants, Inc., and Battleground Restaurant Group, Inc., North Carolina-based corporations that operate Kickback Jack’s restaurants, violated federal law when they refused to hire male applicants for non-managerial front of house positions, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) charged in a lawsuit filed today.

According to the lawsuit, Battleground had, and continues to have, a policy or practice of intentionally failing to hire male applicants for front-of-house positions because of their sex. The lawsuit states that between Dec. 1, 2019, and Feb. 18, 2022, the companies employed more than 2,100 persons in non-managerial front-of-house server positions at 19 Kickback Jack’s restaurants across North Carolina, Virginia, and Tennessee. Of the servers employed at Battleground’s Kickback Jack’s restaurants during that time period, only approximately three percent were male, and some restaurants had no male servers at all. The EEOC alleges that Battleground has no legitimate business justification for failing to hire males in these positions. The EEOC also alleges that Battleground failed to comply with Title VII’s recordkeeping regulations.                                                                                                                       

Such alleged conduct violates Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which prohibits a covered entity from failing to hire or segregating employees based on sex. The EEOC filed suit in U.S. District Court for the Middle District of North Carolina, (Equal Employment Opportunity Commission v. Battleground Restaurants, Inc., and Battleground Restaurants Group, Inc., Civil Action No.: 1:24-CV-00792) after first attempting to reach a pre-litigation settlement through its voluntary conciliation process. The EEOC seeks monetary relief for a class of victims, including back pay, and compensatory and punitive damages. The EEOC also seeks injunctive relief to end any ongoing discrimination and to prevent such unlawful conduct in the future.

“Title VII does not allow employers to exercise hiring preferences based on sex without a legitimate business justification,” said Melinda C. Dugas, regional attorney for the EEOC’s Charlotte District. 

For more information on sex-based discrimination, please visit https://www.eeoc.gov/sex-based-discrimination.     

The EEOC’s Charlotte District is charged with enforcing federal employment anti-discrimination laws in North Carolina, South Carolina and Virginia.

The EEOC prevents and remedies unlawful employment discrimination and advances equal opportunity for all. More information is available at www.eeoc.gov. Stay connected with the latest EEOC news by subscribing to our email updates.