Il Fornaio to pay $3M after EEOC suit over harassment of 100+ women, including teens

Il Fornaio (America) LLC, an Italian restaurant chain with 15 locations in California and Nevada, agreed to pay $3,000,000 and provide other relief to settle a sexual harassment and retaliation lawsuit the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission brought on behalf of a class of female employees, the agency announced on October 13, 2026.

According to the suit, supervisors and employees across Il Fornaio's locations repeatedly subjected female employees — many of them teenagers — to sexual harassment: forceful groping in restaurant bathrooms, multiple instances of grabbing women's private parts, requests for sexual favors and explicit references to sexual activities. Women who complained saw the company fail to stop it, and many were retaliated against; the EEOC said several had no choice but to resign.

The EEOC filed suit in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California (EEOC v. Il Fornaio (America) LLC, Case No. 2:22-cv-05992) after first attempting to settle through administrative conciliation, alleging violations of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 for a hostile work environment based on sex and for retaliation against women who complained. Acting regional attorney Beatriz B. Andre said the case surfaced at least 100 women negatively affected by the work environment, and district director Christine Park-Gonzalez thanked the women who came forward.

$3,000,000 settlement for a class of female employees; the EEOC counted at least 100 women harmed, several forced out by retaliation

Harassment by supervisors and coworkers recurred across multiple restaurant locations, and the company failed to stop it even after female employees complained.

Many of the affected employees were teenagers working in its restaurants, the population least equipped to push back.

Instead of correcting conditions, the company retaliated against many of the women who complained, and several resigned as a result.

It could not resolve the matter in pre-litigation conciliation, leaving the EEOC to sue in federal court in 2022 on behalf of a class.

Complaints repeated across 15 locations are a pattern, not noise: an employer that hears them and changes nothing converts individual misconduct into class-wide liability.

Under the settlement announced October 13, 2026, Il Fornaio will pay $3,000,000 to the class and provide other relief; the announcement did not detail terms beyond the payment. The EEOC's Los Angeles District Office, which handled the litigation, said it hopes the settlement pushes the chain to take meaningful preventive steps and to respond promptly when complaints arise.