On March 25, 2010, B.F. (name removed due to request from subject) received a termination letter from Gibsons Restaurant Group, who he worked for as a server at Hugo's Frog Bar & Fish House restaurant for about eight months.
The letter stated that he was found to have stolen company property, but B.F. believes he was let go because he had taken action against harassment that he'd been experiencing at work and because he is HIV-positive.
"Instead of remedying the situation they terminated his employment," said B.F.'s attorney, Christopher Cooper.
B.F. said that he's "an open-book kind of person," and let it be known at the restaurant from the start that he was gay. He said later on he told some co-workers that he is also HIV-positive.
B.F. said that while he was being trained, racial slurs were being "thrown around." He said that after that he was repeatedly called both racial and anti-gay slurs by other employees.
In October 2009 B.F. reported to a manager that he had been threatened and called an anti-gay slur by another employee. In a statement made to Windy City Times, Gibsons said that the management at Hugo's "promptly investigated and took immediate action." The employee was suspended from work and Gibsons said they conducted training with all employees of Hugo's after the incident.
"Two weeks is not enough," said Cooper. "He should have been terminated."
B.F. said the harassment did not stop. "After it became known that I was HIV-positive it became more aggressive," he said. He also said that co-workers started to avoid him, his hours started getting cut and he would get phone calls before his shift telling him he wasn't needed that day.
"I know they didn't do anything," B.F. said of the management after each complaint. "It seemed like they wanted [ the employees ] to keep it up so I would quit."
"I felt alienated," said B.F., who has worked in the hospitality industry for the past 20 years. "Never ever had that happened to me in my life."
"Mr. [B.F.] never made any other complaints to Hugo's management," said Gibsons in their statement. They said that the first time Hugo's was made aware of any other harassment besides the initial complaint was when Cooper contacted them with allegations of racial harassment by some co-workers.
Gibsons said it investigated each incident reported by Cooper. In the investigations, none of the witnesses identified by B.F. saw or heard anything. Gibsons also said that, in some cases, either B.F. or the offending employees were not working the day of the reported incident. They said that they also conducted further non-discrimination training with employees at the restaurant.
"Hugo's has an impeccable reputation for treating its customers and employees with dignity and respect. Hugo's is an equal opportunity employer and does not tolerate discrimination or harassment of any kind," said Gibsons in its statement.
B.F. said the harassment continued for three months. In January 2010 B.F. filed a claim with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) , and in February he filed a lawsuit in federal court against the company and three employees for discrimination based on the harassment.
"I don't think that Hugo's management demonstrates tolerance as far as race or sexual orientation," said Cooper.
The case against Gibsons was dismissed due to want of subject matter jurisdiction, meaning the court in which the case was filed was not able to try that type of case. The case against the three employees was also dismissed because the defendants were not properly served. ( Note: According to Cooper, another suit against the three workers has been filed. )
Gibsons said that on March 15, 2010, an employee of Hugo's informed the management that he saw B.F. acting suspicious and carrying a meat presentation tray (used to present cuts of meat, worth more than $300, to customers) on the second floor of the restaurant near the employee lockers. An inventory the same night found that one of the trays had not been returned.
Video from the security cameras was then reviewed. The video from the second floor shows a man who appears to be B.F. carrying a tray upright and entering the restroom. Another employee is seen listening at the door and then leaves the area. The man then exits the restroom with the tray folded up and a full paper bag, and puts the bag into his shoulder bag in his locker.
Gibsons said that "Hugo's justifiably terminated Mr. [B.F.'] employment" based on the videotapes, witness statements and the fact that B.F. refused to address the incident when questioned by management.
"This is just outrageous," said Cooper. "There is nothing in the film that shows him stealing anything."
Gibsons' statement also said that the management at Hugo's was unaware of B.F.'s HIV status and that an email sent to its attorney by Windy City Times for this story was the first the company had heard of it at all.
An additional claim has since been filed with the EEOC and also with the Illinois Department of Human Rights. A new discrimination case is now filed in arbitration (an alternative way to resolve legal disputes which Gibsons has a policy about using) with the American Arbitration Association.
"I do want monetary damages," said B.F., who has been unemployed since his termination from Hugo's. "But I also want [Hugo's] to be exposed for who they are—especially for the African-American, gay and HIV-positive communities."
