Waffle HouseIf there were Waffle House restaurants in my area, I'd be boycotting them over this one. The former assistant to the CEO of Waffle House is accusing her old boss of forcing her to perform sexual acts to keep her job. For nearly a decade.

The complaint filed with the Atlanta Police alleges that the employee was sexually harassed by Waffle House CEO Joseph Rogers Jr. from 2003 through June of this year. It alleges that in addition to trying to force her to have sex, the accused "touched her breasts, tried to remove her clothes, made lewd comments, and insisted she perform sex acts on him at least once or twice a month." Um, NOT OKAY. And it gets worse.

The 43-year-old woman identified herself as a single mother, and she said she stayed in the job after her husband left her and she couldn't find another job with a comparable salary. She finally resigned in June after her son was awarded a full scholarship to college.

So, basically, this woman was a single mom working to raise her son and hopefully get him to college, and all the while her boss was taking advantage of -- no, abusing -- her desperation. What kind of man treats women like this? 

According to Rogers' lawyer, "his version of events is much different than hers." Well, that's shocking. He didn't immediately confess to intimidating and sexually harassing his assistant for a decade.

As this all gets hashed out in court, my heart goes out to this woman. It's awful that there are men out there who will use a mother's love and desire to provide for her kids as a weapon against her and force her into degrading, demeaning sex acts. So that her kids don't starve.

Would you have endured this kind of harassment to provide for your kids?

 

Image via joshuaheller/Flickr