Chicago’s Rosebud Restaurants Settles Discrimination Lawsuit for $1.9M

Chicago-based Rosebud Restaurants has agreed to settle a federal lawsuit accusing it of discriminating against some black job applicants.

The Chicago Tribune reports that under the settlement Rosebud Restaurants must pay $1.9 million and establish a program to hire African-Americans. The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission filed the lawsuit in 2013, alleging Rosebud refused to hire African-Americans at a number of its locations and managers used racial slurs.

The settlement money will go to African-Americans who applied for jobs and were denied. The goal of the hiring program is that 11 percent of Rosebud’s workforce be African-American.

Rosebud said in an emailed statement that it understands “we all can do more to demonstrate our commitment to diversity and inclusion in the workplace.”