Suit alleges racial bias at three Waffle Houses in Alabama

A dozen blacks and the NAACP filed suit Tuesday claiming discrimination at three Waffle House restaurants in north Alabama, including one where a white worker allegedly began talking about monkeys after black customers walked in. The suit contends blacks were forced to wait for service, harassed and subjected to disparaging comments on five separate occasions at three restaurants in Athens, Cullman and Madison. It seeks money and a court order banning racial discrimination by the company and a franchise operator. Filed in federal court in Birmingham, the suit came as blacks filed similar cases in Virginia, North Carolina and Georgia. The cases were coordinated by the Washington Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights and Urban Affairs. While plaintiffs attorneys said 20 discrimination cases already were pending at the Norcross, Ga., company, Waffle House said it has a policy to train workers "to treat all customers equally." "Waffle House Inc. has no tolerance for discrimination in our restaurants, and we react swiftly and decisively if we find a violation of our anti-discrimination policies," said the company. In one case in August 2003, Kendra Malone said a white worker at a Waffle House off Interstate 565 in Madison began making what she considered racist remarks after she walked in with a cousin, his wife and a friend, who were all laughing and enjoying themselves after church. "We were laughing at a joke," said Malone, 24, of Huntsville. "He insinuated that, `Monkeys are happy animals, also.'" The group left without being served, Malone said. [more]