Company Refused to Hire Male Applicants for Bartender Positions Because of Sex, Agency Charges

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. - R Wings R Wild, LLC, dba Buffalo Wild Wings in Little Rock, Ark., violated federal law when it refused to hire a qualified male applicant and qualified males as a class for bartender positions because the company wanted female bartenders instead, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) charged in a lawsuit filed today.

According to the EEOC's lawsuit, a male applicant applied for a bartender position at the company's Little Rock location. The company told him it was looking to hire a female, the EEOC said. The suit also alleges that the company refused to hire other male applicants for bartender positions at other locations in both Arkansas and Oklahoma. 

Sex discrimination violates Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. The EEOC filed suit in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Arkansas, Western Division, Civil Action No. 4:17-cv-624-BRW, after first attempting to reach a pre-litigation settlement through its conciliation process. The suit seeks monetary relief in the form of back pay, compensatory and punitive damages, compensation for lost benefits, and an injunction against future discrimination.

"Federal law protects both male and female applicants in their quest for employment," said Katharine W. Kores, district director of the EEOC's Memphis District Office, which has jurisdiction over Arkansas, Tennessee, and portions of Mississippi. "It is just as illegal to deny a male employment because of his sex as it is a female. Employers must realize that no person, male or female, can be denied employment based on sex, except in the rare instances when gender is a bona fide occupational qualification."

Buffalo Wild Wings, an Arkansas limited-liability company, owns and operates 16 independent Buffalo Wild Wings restaurants in Arkansas and Oklahoma.