Lawsuits filed by Bailess Law Firm slam CEC Entertainment, claim former employees witnessed and suffered repeated sexual misconduct despite reporting the incidents
CHARLESTON, W.Va., May 14, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- Four former employees of CEC Entertainment, LLC, the Irving, Texas-based parent company of Chuck E. Cheese, have filed separate lawsuits against the restaurant chain, claiming they were systemically subjected to sexual harassment despite numerous reports to upper management. The complaints against the restaurant company that markets itself as a safe, family-friendly establishment describe a work environment that was anything but professional. All four lawsuits filed by the former workers, who include underage high school teenagers and adult employees, state the harasser was Ryan Slade, a general manager at a Chuck E. Cheese location in Charleston, West Virginia.
Kylie Wright was the first to speak out against Chuck E. Cheese. According to her complaint, Wright worked at the restaurant for nine months when she was a 17-year-old high school student. She claims Slade, her supervisor, attempted to groom her for a sexual relationship and physically violated her on different occasions forcing her to quit in July 2023. Despite her mother contacting Chuck E. Cheese's corporate office to report the predatory and sexually hostile work environment that her underage daughter experienced at the Charleston location, Chuck E. Cheese continued to employ Slade as its general manager, per the lawsuit.
Mary Smith claims she had a similar experience when she worked at the Chuck E. Cheese restaurant while in high school in 2023. Just 16 years old at the time, Smith alleges Slade groomed her by giving preferential treatment, such as buying her food while she worked and letting her leave early. Her lawsuit states the general manager inappropriately touched her on multiple occasions at the restaurant and made her feel uncomfortable with offensive comments about her body. She quit. More than a year later, shortly after she turned 18, she received a text message from Slade saying he wanted "to get to know [her] more," per the suit.
In January 2024, Kelsie Vasquez was pregnant while working at the Chuck E. Cheese restaurant in Charleston. In her lawsuit against the chain, she claims the general manager acted sexually aggressive by discussing lewd acts at the restaurant, invading her personal space with unwanted touching, and alluding to wanting to have sex with her because she was pregnant.
Assistant manager Ian Cooper claims he alerted Chuck E. Cheese corporate management in 2021 about the general manager's inappropriate and unprofessional behavior. His complaint alleges Slade violated teenagers and mothers with children dining at the restaurant by remarking on their bodies and "asses." Cooper also filed reports about the manager getting "touchy-feely" with female employees, including minors, and making inappropriate comments about their bodies at the restaurant, per his complaint. His lawsuit states he was retaliated against when he escalated his concerns by going to the next level of management after two female workers reported they felt uncomfortable in the workplace. The complaint states that less than 30 days after reporting the sexually hostile working conditions, instead of Slade being fired, Cooper became the target of the general manager, who used disciplinary actions that led to termination of Cooper's employment.
"These four lawsuits reveal Chuck E. Cheese tolerated sexual harassment and retaliated against employees who tried to stop it," says Todd Bailess of Bailess Law Firm, who represents the former workers in the lawsuits against the restaurant chain and Slade. "These cases highlight Chuck E. Cheese knew about serious safety issues impacting its employees, customers, and the children who visited this restaurant for more than three years, but corporate management failed to act. It continued to put women and underage teens in the line of fire by placing them under the supervision of a repeated offender."
All four cases are filed in the Circuit Court of Kanawha County, West Virginia:
About Bailess Law Firm
The attorneys at Bailess Law Firm have zero tolerance for sexual harassment in the workplace. The West Virginia-based law firm takes pride in helping restore dignity and bringing hope to workers who have been subjected to unlawful employment practices.
SOURCE Bailess Law Firm
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