Roswell pub accused of racial discrimination

By Alexis Stevens

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

A black woman claims she was hired by a Roswell restaurant and bar, but then fired before she started work because of the color of her skin.

Najla Salaam completed her training to work as a server at The Tilted Kilt, but was never scheduled to work and told that too many black women had already been hired, according to a federal lawsuit filed Monday by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.

A former general manager at the restaurant told the EEOC he was instructed to fire Salaam because she was African-American and too dark, the lawsuit states. Because the general manager objected to the owner's instruction to fire employees based on race, he was also fired, the EEOC said Monday.

The EEOC said it filed the lawsuit against the Holcomb Bridge Road eatery after first attempting to reach a settlement.

“Employers should make employment decisions based only on employees’ abilities and not the color of their skin or their race,” Bernice Williams Kimbrough, district director for the EEOC’s Atlanta office, said in a statement released Monday afternoon. “The EEOC will act to prevent this type of misconduct.”

A manager at the restaurant declined to comment on the lawsuit when reached by phone Monday evening. The Roswell location is one of several Tilted Kilts in the United States, according to the company's website.

The eatery offers "a festive atmosphere full of fun and friends, and, last but not least … attractive cast members eager to put a smile on your face and make you feel right at home," according to the website.