In the summer after her junior year in high school, Amanda Nichols took a job as a server at the local Steak n Shake chain, outside St. Louis, hoping to make some money for college.
Almost 3 million youngsters ages 15 to 17 work during the school year, and like Nichols, about 4 million during the summer. For many, that first after-school or summer job, spent taking people's orders or keeping an eye on swimmers, means entry into a new world: a first paycheck, time away from parents, and new friends. But for others, the experience is memorable for another reason.
Tiffany Grabin, 25, said she was sexually harassed by an employer when she was in high school. Hers was one of the EEOC's first cases involving harassment of teens.
(Jonathan Alcorn For The Washington Post)
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Nichols, then 17, claims she spent her shifts dodging the come-ons of an older cook who pulled on her apron, touched her and made sexually explicit remarks. She said she complained to managers and asked to be moved away from the man, but a manager refused.
Then one night, as Nichols went to her car in the parking lot, the cook followed her, she alleged, threatened her and exposed himself. She complained again, and when she told her manager to choose between the cook and her, she said she was told it might be best if she left, which the teenager did.
But Nichols responded to her experience by doing a very adult thing: going to court. Today, Nichols is a sophomore in college, and the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission is suing Steak n Shake Operations Inc. on her behalf for sexual harassment and constructive discharge. Steak n Shake has denied the charges in court filings.
Awareness of sexual harassment grew during the 1990s, particularly as Anita Hill accused now-Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas of sexual harassment in hearings that riveted the country. That awareness has trickled down to teenagers who might have looked upon some harassment as teasing in years past and now find they don't have to put up with it.
In Nichols's case, her father hired a lawyer who took her complaint to the EEOC, one of 25 such lawsuits the agency has filed or resolved on behalf of teens this year, compared with eight in 2002.
A Los Angeles area Jiffy Lube franchise, for example, paid $300,000 to three female employees, including two 17-year-old high school students who said supervisors and co-workers targeted them with lewd gestures and explicit references to sexual acts. A Jiffy Lube International Inc. spokesman said the issue was handled directly by the franchisee.
Jack in the Box Inc. paid a $300,000 settlement in June after five female workers in Seattle -- including three between ages 16 and 21 -- sued the company, claiming they were subjected to constant lewd remarks and sexual overtures by their direct supervisor. A company spokesman said, according to a news release from the EEOC, that "although our investigation of the allegations in this case showed that we fully complied with our legal obligations, we agreed to increase our training efforts to make sure all employees are treated with respect and consistent with our company policies."
And a Red Lobster restaurant in Kansas settled for $60,000 a suit brought by a 19-year-old server who alleged she was touched inappropriately and subjected to sexual comments by a male co-worker. The restaurant's management ignored complaints until she quit, her suit charged. The company admitted no wrongdoing. A Red Lobster spokeswoman said: "Our company does not tolerate any form of harassment or unwelcome advances."
