Fired waitresses sue Cracker Barrel

JACKSONVILLE, Fla., Sept. 7 (UPI) -- Two Florida restaurant employees filed a federal lawsuit alleging they were fired for discrimination after they complained of other employees' discrimination.

Karen Hutcheson, 60, and Heather Ellis, 35, who were waitresses at a Jacksonville Cracker Barrel restaurant, said they complained about a hostess and a waiter who contrived to give the waiter white instead of black customers because the whites would give bigger tips, the Jacksonville Times-Union reported Tuesday.

Hutcheson and Ellis, who are white, alleged the company in a letter accused them of refusing to wait on blacks and fired them Aug. 8.

The two said the firings were retaliation for their having repeatedly complained to managers about the hostess and waiter, both of whom remain in their positions at the restaurant.

The women filed complaints Aug. 18 with the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.

They also intend to file a federal lawsuit against the national Cracker Barrel chain, which has paid millions of dollars to settle past customer discrimination lawsuits, the Times-Union reported.

"How dare I get fired for something two other people have been doing for years that I've been complaining about," said Ellis, who worked for Cracker Barrel for about two years.

The hostess "profiled the guests into what she thought is how he would make money. I don't think it's fair to African-American people," said Hutcheson, who worked for the restaurant for 18 years.

The NAACP's Jacksonville chapter's president, Isaiah Rumlin, said it will make its national organization aware of the matter.