CHARLESTON – A former employee says she was a victim of sexual harassment and racial discrimination when she worked at Bob Evans.
Trina Ziegler filed her complaint October 4 in Kanawha Circuit Court against Bob Evans Restaurants LLC and Steve Roberts, her former manager at the South Charleston location.
According to the complaint, Ziegler is a 54-year-old Black single mother of five children. She says she worked for the restaurant chain for seven years. When Roberts was hired as a manager, he previously had been the subject of sexual harassment and misconduct complaints when he worked at Ryan’s restaurant.
Ziegler says Roberts’ behavior continued at Bob Evans. She says he made frequent sexually charged comments and jokes, sometimes regarding underage females. She says he also made comments to female employees about their appearance and the private areas of their bodies, also sometimes touching the women.
When Ziegler would object to the comments and touching, she says Roberts would respond with hostility, sometimes belittling her in a loud and angry voice and using abusive and profane language in front of others. She says she endured the harassment for fear of retaliation and the loss of her job.
When she was scheduled to open the restaurant with Roberts, Ziegler says he would follow her into the restroom. She says she reported Roberts’ actions to the restaurant’s supervisory personnel, but nothing was done.
She also says Roberts retaliated against her after she reported his actions by cutting her hours and assigning her fewer tables. She says Roberts “aggressively confronted” her and criticized her for reporting his conduct, and she says she was ostracized by management.
In the spring of 2021, Ziegler says she was called to the stockroom by Roberts. She says Roberts closed the door behind her, turned off the lights and began to physically and sexually assault her.
“This assault included defendant Roberts aggressively fondling and groping Ms. Ziegler’s breasts, buttocks and other parts of her body,” the complaint states. “Ms. Ziegler attempted to push herself away from defendant Roberts, and she vociferously objected to his assault.”
She eventually broke free and left the stockroom, but she says Roberts showed up at her home later that day. She says she hid in her bedroom, and her children told Roberts she was sleeping. She says she had not given Roberts her home address, so he must have obtained it from her employment records.
Ziegler says Roberts continued his retaliation and also sent her sometimes inappropriate text messages.
She says she had no choice but to resign from her job.
In adition, Ziegler says she was subjected to racial discrimination during her employment through comments from co-workers as well as through disparate treatment. That included having her work shifts reduced while new white servers were hired and given full 40-hour weekly shifts.
She accuses the defendants of sexual harassment and a hostile work environment, constructive discharge, retaliation and wrongful discharge, discrimination and disparate treatment based on race, assault and battery, false imprisonment and intentional infliction of emotional distress.
Ziegler says she suffered severe physical, emotional and mental distress, humiliation, anxiety, embarrassment, depression, aggravation, annoyance and inconvenience.
She seeks back pay and front pay, including benefits as well as compensatory damages for her injuries, all out-of-pocket losses suffered, punitive damages, pre- and post-judgment interest, court costs attorney fees and other relief.
Ziegler is being represented by Sean W. Cook of Scott Depot. The case has been assigned to Circuit Judge Tera Salango.
Kanawha Circuit Court case number 21-C-890