Fast Food Worker Sues After Boss Forced Him Into Sexual Relationship

A South Dakota fast food worker is suing his employer because his female boss allegedly forced him to have sex as a term of his employment, the Rapid City Journal reported.

Gerald Anderson, who worked at a Hardee's in Rapid City, claims his manager Danielle Dahlenburg made "unwanted sexual advances, requests for sexual favors and sexual touching." When Anderson ended the sexual relationship in October 2012, Dahlenburg fired him, the Rapid City Journal reported.

Anderson filed the lawsuit earlier this month against the Northland Restaurant Group, which operates as Hardee's, for violating anti-discrimination laws. The location of the Rapid City Hardee's, which has two, was not named in the lawsuit.

Anderson initially filed his complaint with federal fair employment agencies, the Rapid City Journal reported. The ex-Hardee's employee asserts he gave in to his boss's demands because he thought the sex was an implied requirement for his job.

"When she hired him, Dahlenburg told the plaintiff that if he 'applied' himself and worked with her 'on and off the clock,' he could advance to a management position," the suit claims, according the Rapid City Journal. "Dahlenburg led plaintiff to believe that his submission to her sexual advances was a condition of his employment and that he would be fired, or otherwise retaliated against, if he did not acquiesce."

Hardee's has yet to respond to Anderson's allegations. The Northland Restaurant Group did not return the Rapid City Journal's request for comment.

Anderson says he was fired one week after he stopped the illicit relationship.

"That constitutes unlawful employment discrimination," said Sarah Baron Houy, Anderson's attorney, the Rapid City Journal reported.

The lawsuit does not specify the amount of damages Anderson is seeking, but they cover attorney fees, benefits, lost wages, as well as costs due to "humiliation and embarrassment," the lawsuit said, according to the Rapid City Journal.