Lawry's chain settles federal lawsuit

The Lawry’s restaurant chain has settled a federal lawsuit claiming it had barred men from waiting tables. In the now 3-year-old lawsuit, the federal Equal Employment Opportunity Commission claimed that Lawry’s instituted a policy of hiring only women for server positions. That policy started more than 70 years ago – and, the federal agency claims, it wasn’t updated even after the passage of the Civil Rights Act.

The California-based restaurant chain has agreed to pay half a million dollars to discrimination victims and a bit more than that for training and advertising campaigns.

Lawry’s operates a prime rib restaurant in Beverly Hills and runs the Tam O’Shanter in Atwater Village. A company spokesman says the chain has complied with the law for the past five years.