By Jonathan Stempel
(Reuters) – Joe & the Juice agreed to pay $715,000 and hire an employment monitor to settle U.S. regulatory charges that the Danish coffee, juice and sandwich chain failed since June 2017 to recruit, hire and promote women in its American locations.
The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission said on Thursday that Joe & the Juice under a four-year nationwide settlement will improve training and develop an internal online platform to ensure that workers have equal access to promotions.
Joe & the Juice settled without admitting liability as part of what the EEOC calls a “conciliation process” to reach a resolution without filing a lawsuit.
The $715,000 payment will go to female applicants who were denied in-store, non-management jobs.
Further details on the accusations were unavailable. An EEOC spokeswoman declined to comment.
In a statement, Joe & the Juice said it “actively promotes gender equality,” and that 57% of workers in its U.S. business are women compared with 53% worldwide. It also said it has in recent years implemented a “more formalized recruitment process” that U.S. authorities sought.
Founded in 2002 and headquartered in Copenhagen, Joe & the Juice recently had about 326 locations around the world, including 63 U.S. locations.
(Reporting by Jonathan Stempel in New York; Editing by Cynthia Osterman and Will Dunham)
