Bias against males

U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission litigation alleging discrimination against or harassment of males, including selected settled and active cases.

JULY 2010: Virginia Beach, Va.-based Tidewater Plastering & Drywall Co. Inc. accused of subjecting an employee to a hostile work environment. The EEOC said a male foreman subjected the worker to unwelcome sexual conduct and made derogatory comments about his Salvadoran origin.

DECEMBER 2009: The EEOC alleges Sparks Steak House in New York created a hostile work environment for male employees, including physical and verbal sexual harassment, by a male manager and co-workers.

DECEMBER 2009: New York-based fish market M. Slavin & Sons Ltd. accused of male-on-male physical and sexual, racial and national origin harassment in its Brooklyn location that created a hostile work environment.

NOVEMBER 2009: Pasadena, Calif.-based Lawry's Restaurants Inc. agreed to pay $1 million to settle a sex discrimination class action, in which the EEOC alleged a longstanding companywide policy of hiring only women servers.

NOVEMBER 2009: Calabasas Hills, Calif. Cheesecake Factory Inc. agreed to pay $345,000 to settle a sexual harassment suit in which it was accused of knowingly tolerating sexual assaults against six male employees by male kitchen staffers in Chandler, Ariz.

SEPTEMBER 2009: New Orleans-based Boh Bros. Construction Co. L.L.C. accused of subjecting an employee to a sexually hostile work environment on a federal post-Hurricane Katrina bridge repair project, and then retaliating against him for complaining.

AUGUST 2009: Mooresville, N.C.-based Lowe's Cos. Inc. agrees to a $1.7 million settlement involving two men and a woman allegedly subjected to a sexually hostile work environment by managers and co-workers in Longview, Wash., and retaliation for complaining.

JULY 2009: LensCrafters Inc., a unit of Mason, Ohio-based Luxottica U.S. Holdings, is accused of failing to address sexual harassment complaints from a male employee about a female co-worker in a Detroit-area store and with perpetuating a sexually hostile work environment.

JUNE 2009: Little Rock, Ark.-based retailer Dillard's Inc. agrees to pay $110,000 to settle a same-sex harassment suit in which two men accused a male supervisor of verbal and physical sexual harassment in Orlando, Fla.