A Utah-based franchise that operates more than 20 Subway sandwich shops in the state, including in Utah County, is facing a lawsuit by a federal agency that believes company leaders didn’t do enough to protect a teenage employee from alleged sexual assault.

The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, or EEOC, announced the charges last Friday in a lawsuit against Franchise Management LLC. The agency alleges that a male manager of a Subway location in Provo sexually harassed and assaulted a 16-year-old male employee in the workplace.

As alleged in the lawsuit, the manager, who was identified in a probable cause affidavit as Justin Thomas Nielson, made sexual comments to the teenager, including asking him for pictures in his underwear, and tried to discuss sexual preferences, sexual experiences and pornography with him, all over a matter of months.

Nielson, who was 35 at the time, also allegedly sent the teenager pictures of the manager in his underwear. The events reportedly escalated into Nielson sexually assaulting the teenager twice during a work shift in September 2020, the lawsuit states.

The affidavit states he was arrested a month later and reportedly admitted to acts when questioned, but he denied having knowledge of the teenage employee’s age.

According to the lawsuit, he later pleaded guilty to one count of second-degree felony forcible sexual abuse and spent more than 100 days in jail.

Franchise Management LLC is being sued under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which prohibits sexual harassment, including same-sex sexual harassment.

The lawsuit claims Subway did not provide proper resources for the victim to feel comfortable in reporting the alleged sexual harassment.

Mary Jo O’Neill, regional attorney for the EEOC’s Phoenix District Office, which has jurisdiction over Utah, said young workers may be more vulnerable to sexual harassment because they may be afraid to report it.

“This is why training on employment protections under Title VII and maintaining a work environment free of harassment is especially important to protect young people starting out in the workplace,” she said in a statement.

Phoenix District Director Melinda Caraballo added that adequate procedures should be in place where victims feel safe to report unwanted advances and misconduct.

“As frequent employers of young people, fast food businesses must have strong systems in place to ensure that teenage workers are not sexually harassed by older managers, and that workers new to the workforce understand their rights when harassment occurs,” she said in a statement.

More information on sexual harassment can be found at the EEOC’s website at www.eeoc.gov/sexual-harassment.