RALEIGH - A Wake County jury gave $1.15 million Thursday to a former employee of the Smithfield Chicken 'n Bar-B-Q restaurant chain who was fired after he said he turned away sexual advances from the company's president.

Jason Hallaman, 39, sued Gregory A. Moore and Smithfield Management Corp., which runs the chain, for both wrongful termination and malicious prosecution.

Moore testified in the trial that poor performance and a forged check were the reasons Hallaman was fired. But Hallaman said that forgery charges initiated by a report Moore made to police were false and that Moore's misconduct ranged from suggestive comments to an instance where Moore jumped uninvited into the shower with him.

The initial award of $1.15 million could grow, with jurors returning today to decide whether punitive damages should be awarded. Testimony will be given as to both Moore's personal worth and the value of the company.

Smithfield Chicken 'n Bar-B-Q, known for its authentic Southern food, attentive service and family-friendly atmosphere, has 32 restaurants in Eastern North Carolina.

Large awards in sexual harassment cases are unusual, and few cases even make it to trial, according to Ben Rosen, a professor at UNC-Chapel Hill's Kenan-Flagler Business School.

"People usually don't come away getting rich in these cases," he said.

Lawyers in the case were ordered not to speak publicly after the jury's decision late Thursday afternoon, and both Moore and Hallaman declined to comment.

Moore's attorneys indicated they'd ask for a new trial.

Hallaman, 39, told jurors that Moore, 51, propositioned him in July 2002 on his first day of work as Moore's house manager, or butler. He said his boss leaned over and made a suggestive comment while his face hovered above Hallaman's crotch. According to Hallaman, events escalated from there -- including an instance where a naked Moore jumped into the shower with Hallaman -- and Hallaman was fired nine weeks later.

Moore denied that he ever acted inappropriately and told jurors he fired Hallaman because of his temper, poor work performance and a check to which Hallaman signed Moore's name. The check was made out to Dirty Deeds, a company that cleaned Moore's cars.

Hallaman testified that Moore asked him to sign the check and speculated that it was part of a plot to fire him and have him arrested. The criminal charges were later dismissed.

Jurors also heard from four other men who described similar advances, and who were also fired after they said they turned Moore down.

The Wake jury's decision suggests the members thought Moore was lying when he told them he never propositioned, touched or made sexually suggestive comments to Hallaman or the four other men. The jury also found that Moore violated the law when he arranged to have Hallaman arrested on forgery charges for the Dirty Deeds check.

However, the jury also found that Hallaman trespassed when he went on Moore's property after his firing.

The type of harassment Hallaman described is becoming less common in the American workplace, said Rosen, the UNC professor. More often seen is the type of harassment where subtle comments are made that lead to hostile work environments, as was the case with a recent lawsuit against Isiah Thomas.

On Tuesday, a jury awarded $11.6 million to a woman who accused the New York Knicks basketball coach of sexual harassment.

That type of harassment often goes unreported, with victims willing to put up with it instead of jeopardizing their career.

"Some people might be thinking, 'How much can I tolerate?' " Rosen said. "Usually complainers get fired."

And though the percentage of claims from men is rising, it's even more unusual for men to be the complainers. In 2006, 85 percent of all complaints the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission handled came from women.

In recent years, the number of complaints the commission received has slightly declined. In 2006, 12,025 complaints were filed with the agency, down from a peak of 15,836 in 2000.

Hallaman, whose complaint was investigated by the federal agency, received a "reasonable cause" ruling from the agency after he filed his complaint after his 2002 firing.

Joanna Grossman, a law professor at Hofstra University, suspects that most of the complaints filed by men are against other men. In many of those cases, men who are deemed effeminate are picked on in a workplace and discriminated against, she said. In fewer cases, men harass other men to pursue them sexually, Grossman said. It's more uncommon to have women sexually harass men or other women, Grossman said. She suggested that harassment is generally driven by the power and control that the perpetrator has over a victim.

"The same drive that causes men to harass women also causes men to harass men," Grossman said. "It's probably a little harder for men who complain because people don't believe them."

(News researcher Brooke Cain contributed to this report.)

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