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Ruby Tuesday Inc. will pay $255,000 and furnish equitable relief to settle a federal sexual harassment lawsuit involving employees at a Stroudsburg, Pa., restaurant, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission announced Tuesday.

Ruby Tuesday said it cooperated in the investigation, but denied liability. The company said it agreed to the settlement to resolve the claims and save the time and costs of a lengthy trial.

According to the EEOC's lawsuit against Maryville-based Ruby Tuesday, a general manager subjected female employees to sexual harassment at the restaurant.

The manager's unwelcome harassment included making crude sexual propositions to women, frequently making sexually explicit and graphic remarks to them about their appearance, and making lewd comments in their presence about other women, according to the EEOC. The commission statement said some of these women affected by this unlawful harassment were teenagers.

In addition to the monetary payments to five women who were sexually harassed, the three-year consent decree resolving the lawsuit provides equitable relief including annual training of all managers and supervisors at the Stroudsburg site and imposing supervisory accountability requirements, the EEOC said.

Ruby Tuesday denied liability in the consent decree. The company issued the following statement:

"The company has a long-standing commitment to treating all individuals with dignity and respect and maintains effective policies which strictly prohibit any type of harassment or discrimination and has done so for many years. We regularly train our employees on these policies. We take reports of behavior or actions that are not consistent with this commitment very seriously and we investigate such actions when we are made aware of them.

"The company cooperated with the EEOC during the investigation and the allegations against the company were limited to the Stroudsburg restaurant only. The company owns and franchises more than 800 restaurants and these allegations do not relate to any other restaurant. This settlement is not an admission by the company of any wrongdoing or by its managers. In fact the EEOC, immediately prior to settlement, dismissed all allegations against one of the managers they initially accused. The settlement was merely an agreement to amicably resolve these claims to save time and costs associated with a lengthy trial."