Former Midtown TGI Friday's Employees Sue Company Over Racist Hiring Practices

When TGI Friday's closed a 34th Street location and opened just a block away, many of the restaurant's black staff members weren't rehired. According to a class action lawsuit against the chain, managers filled the open positions with light-skinned Hispanic workers, reports the Daily News. "It was their opinion that black people were lazy...We weren't even given a chance," says Lisa Baker, a plaintiff in the suit. Managers allegedly called the old location the "the ghetto store" and "black Friday's."

In response, the Riese Organization, which owns Friday's, has released a statement saying: "The restaurant in question has a workforce, including managers, that is more than 80% non-white." But of course, that skirts the main issue at hand here. Lawyers are seeking $500,000 each for the 10 employees involved, for "loss of wages, emotional distress and punitive damages."