The incident allegedly occurred during the early morning hours of Oct. 12, 2008 at the Waffle House, 7312 Kingsgate Way.
The lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court in Cincinnati on Monday, June 8, says Whitney Logan, a student at Ohio State University, and her brother, Travis Logan, of Michigan, were traveling through West Chester with friends Treyken Addison, a student at the University of Toledo, and Kelli Scott, also of Michigan.
The four, in town for a family gathering, walked into Waffle House at 2:30 a.m., Oct. 12, and asked to be seated. While Scott and Whitney Logan took seats at the counter, Addison and Travis Logan stood behind them, the lawsuit states.
It was 10 to 15 minutes before they were acknowledged by Waffle House employees — all of whom appeared to be white, according to the lawsuit — even though there was “at least one empty seat at the counter and one empty booth.”
“After about 10-15 minutes, a waitress ... told the group, ‘It would be 30-40 minutes,” the lawsuit states. “The four were surprised by this long wait for service because nothing was cooking on the grill and it appeared all the customers had been served their food. These four black customers were the only customers who needed to be waited on. Since they were hungry and did not know of any other restaurant in the area that was open that late, they decided to wait.”
While they waited, the lawsuit says, a group of four people who appeared to be white, entered the restaurant, were greeted, seated and had their orders taken.
Another 10 minutes passed before the orders of the black patrons were taken by a server.
The lawsuit alleges that a Waffle House employee — identified only as “Meredith LNU” or “last name unknown” — told another employee to refuse to serve them.
“Meredith then turned on the four black customers and said, ‘You’re done!’ and drew her finger across her throat,” the lawsuit states. “Meredith said they would not be served and yelled, ‘GET OUT!’ The four asked why they were being denied service and Meredith responded she did not like their attitude and she had something better to do than serve them, like take out the trash or do dishes.”
The woman then reportedly contacted the West Chester Police Department, which dispatched two officers to the restaurant on a call of disorderly conduct, according to Police Chief Erik Niehaus. Niehaus said a third unit, which included a K-9, was in the area and decided to respond.
Instead of taking their complaint, “the police detained and questioned the four plaintiffs while two officers went inside the restaurant to investigate ...” the lawsuit states.
“The police eventually realized no crime had been committed by the four black customers and let them leave. The police did not investigate their claim of racial discrimination; instead, the police told them, ‘next time, go to IHOP.’”
The lawsuit seeks unspecified damages, although Cincinnati attorney Jennifer L. Branch, who is representing the four friends, said the action is about more than money.
“We are asking for the discrimination to end at that Waffle House,” she said. “We did attempt to resolve this before suit, but the defendant did not respond. If they were not going to even respond to our concerns, then there was no other choice than to file a lawsuit.”
The four friends — some of whom said they had never before been discriminated against, Branch said — were surprised to hear each other reactions to the alleged incident.
Waffle House Inc., released this statement Tuesday, June 9:
“Waffle House, Inc. treats any allegations of discrimination in its restaurants seriously and will review these allegations with the franchise owner of that particular restaurant,” the company said in a prepared statement. “The Waffle House System proudly serves all customers from all races and backgrounds with a commitment to friendly service and does not tolerate discrimination of any kind. Customers and employees are the lifeblood of our business. Waffle House, Inc. and its franchisees have built a successful business by welcoming people of all races and backgrounds to eat and work with us.
“We cannot speculate or comment on any specifics regarding these allegations because it solely involves the franchisee.”
George Shearer, of the Lebanon-based Shearer Foods has owned the West Chester location since July 1999, and owns 23 other Waffle House locations in Ohio and Kentucky, according to the company.
Shearer Foods said in a statement this evening, June 9, it was the first time in the company’s history they have been named as a defendant in any customer discrimination lawsuit.
“We deny the allegations of racial discrimination in this matter and will answer the charges,” the statement read. “The franchise owner has reviewed this matter personally and regrets any failure of this particular restaurant to meet long standing customer service goals for these customers or for any of its customers.”
The statement also says the company does not tolerate illegal discrimination in its restaurant.
“We will work hard to prevent and promptly correct any such behavior and will continue doing so in the future.”
Contact this reporter at (513) 820-2112 or dgreber@coxohio.com.
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