By LawInspectsRight here in the country, Texas Roadhouse is a big restaurant chain, and it has been like that for many years now. But recently, this restaurant chain actually got into some nasty legal stuff and that was because of their own fault. Yes, we’re referring to the Texas Roadhouse Lawsuit here, and if you know little to nothing about this case, well then keep on reading.
Age Discrimination Lawsuit: Like What Really Happened?
This whole drama actually began back in 2007 when the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) alleged discriminatory hiring practices at Texas Roadhouse, and we get it, that doesn’t explain anything about the situation itself, so just keep on reading. See, according to the EEOC, workers in their 40s would apply for front-of-the-house jobs like servers, bartenders, and hosts, but they kept getting rejected, and this literally went on for years and years.
And it wasn’t happening only at a few places, nah, in reality, this was going on at quite literally hundreds of restaurants, and that too from 2007 to 2014. So yes, seven full years, what we’re talking about here of all this. The EEOC perceived a pattern and considered it as age discrimination, straight up; that is what it is. Apparently, the company wanted a certain “look” for front-line workers, and in that image, older applicants did not fit well, and that was their justification for all of this. So, sure enough, they had this Texas Roadhouse Lawsuit coming, but it was just a matter of “when”.
The case dragged on for years until it finally ended with a mistrial. In 2017, rather than continue fighting, you know, the Texas Roadhouse decided to settle the matter and agreed to pay $12 million in settlement of the claims. Though there were many people involved in this lawsuit who didn’t have anything to do with the money, they just wanted the Texas Roadhouse to make reforms, and that is what this lawsuit actually achieved.
Menu Lawsuit: What Was the Issue?
Now, speaking of some other menu law-related issue, there was a class-action lawsuit filed with the allegation that Texas Roadhouse menus were misleading. The complaint was either about prices or items not being adequately explained, and hence, some patrons might have thought that more was included in the price than really was.
The lawsuit alleges that pricing or meal information was not displayed clearly enough on the menu.
At present, there’s no closure to this case. There is no official statement as to whether Texas Roadhouse will be doling out any compensatory damages or updating its menus. But if the case goes on, it may indeed compel refunds or a revision of the menus.
What Changed After the Lawsuits?
Because of these lawsuits, especially considering the age discrimination issue, Texas Roadhouse had to implement a big internal carve-out. And just to give you a better idea of this, well, that mandated shifting toward fair hiring practices, better training for employees, and, really, better compliance oversight.
For a company with hundreds of locations, such changes were truly far from trivial. Time and effort needed to be invested in such implementations, and money had to be disbursed, not merely the $12 million settlement, but keep in mind that there are also the expenses that go into implementing new procedures and restoring faith in the public.
So all in all, this case wasn’t just about the $12 million settlement, nah, it was more than that. This case actually has the potential to bring new changes in this industry, and that’s what we’re seeing right now. It is probable that other restaurant chains took note of this and reviewed their own policies to avoid falling into these kinds of legal problems.