SAN ANTONIO (WBAP/KLIF News) – The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission has filed a lawsuit against Whataburger on behalf of a former manager in Tallahassee, Florida.
An attorney for the EEOC said Vanessa Burrous, a white woman, was pressured by upper management to only hire white employees.
According to the lawsuit, Burrous was directed to “review the names on the applications, identify those names that sounded white, and only interview those applicants.”
Burrous alleges that after she hired eight employees in April 2015, seven of whom were black and one white, her supervisor became “infuriated.” She attempted to transfer but was told to speak with the area manager over five Tallahassee restaurants.
The lawsuit alleges that when Burrous and her supervisor met with the area manager, she was told that the directive to hire only white applicants came from upper management.
Burrous alleges that during the meeting, she was told that the “Whataburger customer base is white and we want faces behind the counter to match the customer base.”
She also claims that she faced retaliation including emotional and verbal abuse, intimidation, increased workload and unwarranted disciplinary infractions.
Her attorney said Burrous should get back pay, damages and adopt policies that protect employees from retaliation.
Whataburger, a San Antonio-based chain with more than 800 restaurants across the South, released a statement denying the allegations.
“Based on our thorough internal investigation, we deny the allegations. We did not retaliate against the employee nor did we ask her to use the alleged discriminatory hiring practices. We value diversity on our teams and proudly employ family members of all races. Approximately 75 percent of our workforce identifies as non-white.”
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