Man lodges defamation claim against Chipotle over employee's false sexual harassment accusation

A DuPage County man is suing over claims he was falsely accused of sexual harassment while installing cabling at a Chipotle restaurant.

Lowell Davis filed a lawsuit June 30 in the Cook County Circuit Court against Chipotle Mexican Grill Inc., alleging defamation.

According to the complaint, Davis was at the Chipotle on South LaGrange Road in Orland Park on June 3, 2013 to install cabling as a subcontractor for Bailiwick Data Systems Inc.

Davis claims that at one point, his job required him to ask a female employee in the restaurant's back office if he could retrieve his flashlight from under her desk, and she gave him permission to do so.

The suit alleges he then went back to work and several hours later, Chipotle called the police, and the restaurant's district manager, along with the female employee, made false accusations of sexual harassment against Davis.

He claims the accusations resulted in his arrest, more than six months of prosecution and the loss of his job.

According to the suit, all of the charges against Davis were eventually dropped after security camera footage from Chipotle's back office showed there was no physical contact between Davis and the female employee.

He accuses Chipotle of defamation, false light, negligence and intentional infliction of emotional distress.

Davis is seeking more than $75,000 in damages and lost wages. He is being represented by Michael I. Leonard and Ethan E. White of Leonard Law Offices in Chicago.

Cook County Circuit Court Case No. 2014L006901.

This is a report on a civil lawsuit filed in the Cook County Circuit Court. The details in this report come from an original complaint filed by a plaintiff. Please note, a complaint represents an accusation by a private individual, not the government. It is not an indication of guilt, and it only represents one side of the story.