General and area managers in Florida for Texas’ famed Whataburger chain told a restaurant manager in Tallahassee to only hire employees that “sounded white,” the federal government alleged in a lawsuit filed this week.
The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission in the Monday filing said bosses subsequently punished the manager when she refused to obey the directive to only hire white applicants.
“Employees who oppose unlawful practices should feel secure in exercising that right (to refuse),” said Michael Farrell, district director for the EEOC's Miami district office, in a statement.
Whataburger denied the allegations after conducting its own “thorough internal investigation,” the company said in a statement.
“We did not retaliate against this employee nor did we ask her to use the alleged discriminatory hiring practices,” the company said. “We value diversity on our teams and proudly employ family members of all races. Approximately 75 percent of our workforce identifies as non-white.”
According to the lawsuit filed in Tallahassee, a regional Whataburger manager told a local restaurant manager there to hire only whites because the chain wanted "the faces behind the counter to match the customer base."
The EEOC alleges in the lawsuit that regional Whataburger supervisors retaliated against the manager when she failed to comply.
The federal agency said Monday it filed the suit after attempting to reach a settlement with Whataburger.
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