Oct. 24--Landry's Seafood Restaurants has been sued in federal court by two former employees alleging sexual harassment, intimidation and retaliation. 

The lawsuit, filed Monday in Houston, contends that Tilman Fertitta, Landry's chairman of the board, president and chief executive officer, told David Foreman and his wife, Paula, they'd have a rough time finding restaurant industry jobs if they pursued their claims of sexual harassment with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. 

On Tuesday, U.S. District Judge Kenneth M. Hoyt signed a motion at Landry's request to seal the case from the public's view. Landry's contended it needed the protection because of the "scurrilous, disparaging and incendiary accusations" against Landry's and Fertitta, according to its filing. 

Company officials are particularly upset about a transcript of an alleged conversation secretly recorded on July 7, 1998, on the Kemah Boardwalk between Fertitta and David Foreman. 

During the conversation, Fertitta allegedly told David Foreman that if he took his complaint to the EEOC he wouldn't win and that his wife should "go get a job somewhere else." 

Attorneys for Landry's claim there is credible evidence the recording was fabricated. 

Steven L. Scheinthal, vice president of administration and general counsel for Landry's, said he had the recording analyzed, and an expert believes it was spliced together. He also claims Fertitta did not make the remarks he is alleged to have made. 

Hoyt will hold a hearing on whether the recording is admissible as evidence. 

David Foreman was general manager of Landry's Seafood House on the Kemah waterfront until 1999, and Paula Foreman was the human resources manager of the restaurants on the Kemah waterfront until 1998, according to the lawsuit. 

Landry's officials denied the allegations and said they take all claims of sexual harassment seriously and investigate them all. 

Scheinthal also disputed Paula Foreman's contention that she was demoted to trainer and then terminated because she filed a complaint with the EEOC. 

Although her boss had given her the title of manager of human resources for the waterfront Kemah restaurants, she wasn't schooled in human resource management, Scheinthal said. 

When the corporate office found out about the promotion several months after she'd been doing the job, Scheinthal said Paula Foreman was shifted to a training job. Later, the company no longer needed a specialized trainer and gave her the chance to move to another job or receive a severance package as part of a larger layoff, Scheinthal said. 

According to the suit, Landry's officials routinely ignored claims of sexual harassment. In one instance, the regional manager allegedly told a female employee of the Cadillac Bar in Kemah he would like it if she took off her shirt and "put on a G-string and a cowboy hat." 

The comments were passed off by company supervisors as comments the manager typically makes, according to the lawsuit. 

Paula Foreman also contended that her boss closed her office door one day, took off his shirt, rubbed his chest and made sexually suggestive remarks. 

Scheinthal said that after Paula Foreman complained, the company conducted a 10-day investigation. Many witnesses were interviewed, he said, and the only evidence of the regional manager making an inappropriate comment was one in which he jokingly asked a female employee to do a "table dance." 

For that, Scheinthal said, the regional manager was reprimanded. 

The lead attorney for the Foremans, however, disagrees with Scheinthal's description of the investigation's findings. 

"The investigation actually showed that five managers reported that the regional manager had made sexually charged comments to women," John Zavitsanos said. "It's outrageous to claim there was no evidence of comments about women." 

The Foremans' lawsuit comes after a probe by the local office of the EEOC, which found in favor of the Foremans on the charges. 

The EEOC found: 

The work environment of Landry's Seafood Restaurants was such that a reasonable person would have found the regional manager's sexual comments and his actions hostile and abusive. 

Landry's retaliated against Paula Foreman by demoting her to the job as training assistant for complaining of sexual harassment. 

Fertitta and his regional manager intimidated and threatened David Foreman with demotion and termination if his wife didn't drop her sexual harassment charge. 

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