CHARLESTON – A former Burger King employee says he was a victim of sexual harassment from a male manager at the restaurant.
Matthew Brown filed his complaint March 15 in Kanawha Circuit Court against Ampler Burgers Ohio LLC doing business as Burger King. Store manager Randy Vaughn also is named as a defendant.
According to the complaint, Brown worked at the Burger King location at Southridge in Charleston beginning March 17, 2021. He says Vaughn subjected him to “humiliating sexual harassment on a near daily basis,” including making offensive sexual comments and propositioning him.
Brown, who now lives in Florida, says Vaughn made the unwanted comments in front of co-workers and customers. Some of them included commenting on Brown’s buttocks, saying he wanted to touch it.
On March 24, 2021, Brown says he was so disturbed by Vaughn’s comments that he had to retreat to the restroom to escape the harassment, but Vaughn eventually taunted him under the stall door with his time card.
That was the last shift he worked at Burger King. Brown says he had no choice but to remove himself from the hostile work environment. A few days later, he says he received a letter informing him he had been terminated.
He accuses the defendants of violating the West Virginia Human Rights Act by creating a hostile work environment with sexual harassment. He also accuses them of retaliation and alternative count for constructive discharge.
Brown says he has suffered loss of dignity, embarrassment, humiliation, aggravation and emotional distress. He seeks compensatory and punitive damages, pre- and post-judgment interests, attorney fees, court costs and other relief.
He is being represented by Robert P. Lorea of Lorea Law Office in Charleston. The case has been assigned to Circuit Judge Maryclaire Akers.
Brown’s lawsuit isn’t the first that mentions the defendant company, the Southridge Burger King location or even Vaughn, although Vaughn wasn’t a named defendant in the earlier lawsuit.
Kanawha Circuit Court case number 23-C-233