CINCINNATI -- A former Terry's Turf Club employee whose video she posted online after her firing went viral has filed a discrimination charge against the restaurant alleging its owner promoted a sexually hostile work environment.
Evelyn Reid filed the charge with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission Cincinnati area office on Wednesday. In it, she said restaurant owner Terry Carter "often made inappropriate comments about female employees and customers" and treated female employees differently than male employees.
"He's been operating a long time without consequence," she said.
The restaurant has no sexual harassment policy or employee handbook, according to the EEOC charge. Reid said in it that she feared retaliation by Carter.
Reid said she was fired on Oct. 7 in the middle of a double shift she had volunteered to cover after Carter told her she wasn't smiling enough. She alleged in the charge that Carter told her that he would "miss (her) ass." Then, Reid said she started recording on her phone.
"I was scared," she said. "I've seen him go off on employees before."
A video Reid posted that same day shows a man, purportedly Carter. Reid said he told her she'd be OK if she kept her "legs spread open." The video has been shared more than 7,000 times.
Scott Croswell, an attorney representing Carter, said the EEOC charge "is a rehash of old allegations."
"We intend to defend the EEOC complaint aggressively, and any litigation that should follow," he said.
In the EEOC charge, Reid said she believes she was discriminated against because of her gender and retaliated against because she complained about it.
