7 Outback Steakhouse Controversies Everyone Forgot About

Outback Steakhouse has been having a rough time of it lately. In September 2026, the Australia-themed chain, known for its best-selling center-cut sirloin steak and Bloomin' Onion, announced it was closing more than 40 locations, some of which had been in operation for more than two decades. And to add insult to injury, customers have been complaining about the chain quite a bit, claiming that the food is often cold, overpriced, and declining in quality. But for some people, the issues with Outback Steakhouse run deeper than a few cold entrées.

It turns out, this Aussie-centric chain might have caused a few people some serious harm (both physically and mentally). We're taking a closer look at some of the biggest controversies from Outback Steakhouse's past, some of which you might have forgotten about. But before we start, just a warning: This article might make you wary of mashed potato, toilet seats, and mocktails.

Slippery floors are very, very bad news for restaurant chains. In 2019, in one of the biggest chain restaurant lawsuits of all time, Burger King had to pay out nearly $8 million in compensation after a man fell on a slippery floor in one of its bathrooms. The man developed lifelong complications after the accident. Seven years later, in June 2026, a woman sued Outback Steakhouse for $1.5 million over a very similar issue. Only this time, 56-year-old Tracy J. Renshaw was on her way to the bathroom when the accident occurred. The culprit? Mashed potato.

Per reporting from USA Today, Renshaw, the mashed potato caused her to slip and fall on her face, and as a result, she incurred serious injuries and costly medical bills. There was no appropriate signage in the restaurant warning her of the spilled food, which, according to the lawsuit, indicates Outback Steakhouse's failure to maintain a safe environment for its customers.

At the time of writing, the case is still ongoing, but it's unlikely to go to trial, as most slip-and-fall cases are settled out of court. That said, it has been done before. In 2018, Deborah Nagy sued the Outback Steakhouse for $2.75 million after she slipped on a greasy substance in one of its restaurants.

Founded in the late 1980s, Outback Steakhouse spent the entirety of the 1990s expanding across the U.S. By 2001, it had more than 640 restaurants in America, as well as more than 70 international locations. Put simply, it was thriving, and that was all thanks to a team of employees across the country. Not just the leadership, the servers, the kitchen staff, but also the construction department, which closely managed the development of all of the restaurant chain's new locations. And this brings us to the $2.2 million lawsuit.

In February 1995, Outback Steakhouse hired Dena Zechella as a Site Development Assistant. And then in November 1996, they asked Zechella to train a new hire, who was male, and had very little experience in construction. Very soon, the new hire was doing Zechella's job for double the pay, and to say she was peeved was understatement. Zechella, of course, complained, but instead of supporting her, the company transferred her to a clerical role before terminating her. Cue a sex discrimination and illegal retaliation lawsuit. Fortunately for Zechella, her legal action was a success; a jury awarded her $2.2 million in punitive damages, back wages, and compensation.

Zechella's lawsuit wasn't the end of Outback Steakhouse's legal woes. In 2013, the Australia-themed chain was sued again by its employees. This time, for making them work without pay. Yep, that makes sense.

According to the plaintiffs, they were expected to work "Outback Time," basically a 15-minute preparation period ahead of each shift, before they were allowed to clock in. They were also denied breaks (even nursing mothers were prevented from breaking to express milk) and expected to attend meetings and training sessions without pay. The lawsuit took three years to complete, but in 2016, the employees were awarded a $3 million settlement.

Unfortunately, it seems that Outback Steakhouse might have failed to learn its lesson. In 2023, another employee filed a lawsuit against the chain, this time for not paying them minimum wage for tasks through which they were unable to earn tips.

Renshaw isn't the only customer to be injured in an Outback Steakhouse. In 2025, Michael Green visited the bathroom during a visit to a restaurant in Ocala, Florida, and to his horror, the toilet collapsed beneath him. The incident wasn't just mortifying for Green, but it also left him with life-changing injuries, including the loss of a bodily function, and permanent scarring. Unsurprisingly, he sued. In December 2025, he filed a lawsuit asking for damages of more than $50,000.

Regrettably, this wasn't the first toilet-related lawsuit in the restaurant industry. In July 2026, a 63-year-old man sued Waffle House when he was thrown from a toilet that hadn't been installed correctly. In 2024, Dunkin' was sued for more than $100,000 over an exploding toilet, and in 2011, McDonald's was also sued when a customer fell from a broken toilet. We're not saying you should be scared of going to the bathroom, but maybe a quick inspection of the commode before you sit down wouldn't be the worst idea.

Zechella's suit was, undeniably, a personal success, but it didn't completely change the culture at Outback Steakhouse, unfortunately. In 2006, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission [EEOC] sued the restaurant chain once again for sex discrimination.

According to the lawsuit, Outback Steakhouse had repeatedly deliberately denied women management positions throughout the chain. In fact, just like in Zechella's case, it seems the women were consistently ignored in favor of less qualified men. "Apparently, when being in the kitchen leads to a lucrative position, women suddenly no longer are welcome," said Mary Jo O'Neill, Regional Attorney for the EEOC's Phoenix District, in a statement at the time, per NBC News.

The case took three years, but in the end, the EEOC was successful. Not only did it manage to secure $19 million for all experienced female workers at Outback Steakhouse, but it also got the restaurant chain to install a new online application system, create a new Vice President of People position, and employ an outside consultant to ensure women were treated fairly in the company.

Yep, it's another discrimination lawsuit. This time, though, it's not related to a case of sex discrimination, but disability discrimination. According to the lawsuit filed by the EEOC in 2011, John Woods, who suffered from a traumatic brain injury, was fired after just three months with one of the chain's locations in Phoenix, Arizona, seemingly because of his disability. Once again, the EEOC secured a victory. Two years later, Woods was awarded $65,000. But more than that, Outback Steakhouse in Arizona also agreed to review its disability discrimination policies and train its managers on them.

This wasn't the only case of disability discrimination at Outback Steakhouse. In 2009, Suzanna Sensing, who suffered from multiple sclerosis, also sued the chain in Massachusetts, claiming that she was fired because of her disability. And in 2019, a judge ruled that an employee named Danny Bills could go to trial in West Virginia over the claim that he was fired because of his blindness.

After taking a few sips of his virgin strawberry daiquiri at a Michigan Outback Steakhouse in 2024, 12-year-old Mekyle Cureton started to feel strange. His heart was beating really fast, and he started to develop a strange headache. Yeah, you guessed it. The daiquiri wasn't really virgin after all. Nope, it was actually filled with rum. After realizing the error, Cureton's grandmother took him to hospital where he was given tylenol, and the next day, unsurprisingly, he felt pretty rough.

Fortunately for Outback Steakhouse, the family accepted its apology for the mistake and didn't file a lawsuit. But it could have been different, as legal action has been taken over this exact issue in the past. In 2011, for example, in one of the biggest scandals in Applebee's history, the family of a 15-month-old baby sued the chain after the child was given margarita mix instead of apple juice, also in one of its Michigan locations.