Chipotle guilty of gender discrimination against employees

CINCINNATI, OH (FOX19) - Chipotle owes three former employees hundreds of thousands of dollars, after a federal jury found the Mexican grill guilty of gender discrimination and violating the Family Medical Leave Act.

Throughout the two week-long trial three, former Cincinnati-area Chipotle managers described a dark and isolating work atmosphere, that they said stemmed from a gender discriminating boss.

"You could totally tell it was different as far as how he treated the males in our patch compared to how he was treating me and everything else in the store," said Tina Reynolds, former general manager of the Western Hills store.

Reynolds, Stephanie Ochoa and Elizabeth Rogers all say they were targeted and terminated unfairly.

Their experiences varied from being called "too emotional" or scoring exceptionally high on audits, only to be fired and replaced by male counterparts with
lower performing scores.

Rogers said she was singled out after a difficult maternity leave.

"Essentially as soon as I came back it was a lot of hostility and a much different environment than when I left," she said.
 
On Monday, a federal grand jury agreed the actions were illegal and found Chipotle, and the women's former supervisor, guilty of violating federal gender discrimination laws.

"It's just not right," said Kelly Myers, one of the victim's lawyers. "It's not right that someone who is doing the best job they can, the same job as their
peers can be terminated just because they are a woman."

There are two other former female employees who filed suit against Chipotle. Their trial is scheduled to start in April.

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