MERRILL, WI (WSAU) -  A Merrill restaurant must pay $41,000 to settle a sexual harassment lawsuit. The New Pine Ridge Restaurant will be paying that to a former waitress, and the remaining staff and ownership must undergo employee rights training.

The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission says a consent decree was entered into federal court Monday. They claim the restaurant’s cook created a hostile work environment by making crude comments to waitresses and grabbing their breasts. The EEOC claims ownership failed to stop the harassment and that somewomen were fired in retaliation for complaining.