DENVER -- Managers of an Arvada family-owned restaurant are accused of "simply repulsive" sexual harassment against young female employees, including repeatedly groping a 16-year-old girl who worked for them and making crude jokes and comments.

The teen was illegally fired in retaliation for complaining about the harassment, according to the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, which filed a lawsuit against Alamos Verdes restaurant on Monday.

Officials harshly condemned the alleged conduct of the two brothers who the agency said co-own and manage the eatery.

"The way these young women were treated is simply repulsive," EEOC Denver Field Office Director Nancy Sienko said in a statement. "I can think of no worse way to be introduced into the workforce than to be degraded and groped by your middle-aged bosses.

"What is worse is that even after these women complained, nothing happened. The family kept operating the business as usual," she added.

Emma Martinez, who with her husband, John, has owned and operated the restaurant at 5304 Vance Street for 31 years, called the allegations "untrue" and frightening.

"It's so unfair," she said, adding that the managers accused of creating the hostile workplace -- her sons Paul and Greg Martinez -- are not owners of the restaurant that's been in her family for three generations.

"I am terrified and horrified ... What it will do to the business?" she added.

Paul Martinez is accused of groping the 16-year-old girl and grabbing another teen and a female worker, said Rita Byrnes Kittle, an EEOC supervisory trial attorney. Investigators are seeking to locate other women.

Martinez frequently told inappropriate jokes and comments to female workers, the statement said.

Greg Martinez also allegedly engaged in verbal sexual harassment, including calling female workers "stupid" and saying: "The only things women are good at are bitching and moaning," according to the statement.

The EEOC vowed to take action against what is described as a "significant number of sexual harassment complaints in the restaurant industry."

"The conduct alleged here is reprehensible," EEOC Acting Chairman Stuart J. Ishimaru said in the statement. "The EEOC treats this type of violation with the utmost urgency and will act vigorously to uphold the laws prohibiting sexual harassment and retaliation."

Authorities said they filed the lawsuit after initial attempts to get the restaurant to voluntarily resolve problems failed. The suit seeks monetary damages, including back pay, compensation for emotional distress, and punitive damages. The EEOC also seeks a court ruling prohibiting further discrimination by restaurant officials and mandating corrective action.