A Newport News man has filed a complaint against a local restaurant saying he was discriminated against while employed there.
Anthony Burrell, 21, filed a race discrimination complaint with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission against Cracker Barrel Old Country Store on Marketplace Drive. In his Aug. 31 complaint, Burrell says that white and black employees were separated in the kitchen, with the black employees given more work.
Burrell, a grill cook, said that on April 18 a manager told him and two other black cooks to work at one of the grills and three white cooks to work the other. Burrell said when he asked why, the manager told him they had “better chemistry.” The grill the black employees were assigned to gets more order requests, Burrell said.
Burrell said he filed a complaint with the corporate office, but received no response. He said he was fired Aug. 9 for leaving his work station, according to the complaint.
“This was not right,” Burrell said in a telephone interview Wednesday. “I felt it was something that was not supposed to go on in a professional environment. We should all have equal rights in the work environment.”
Janella Escobar, director of corporate communications for the company, said that Burrell filed a complaint within the company.
“We investigated the claim through the appropriate channels and through the protocol we have,” Escobar said. “We were unable to substantiate his claim.”
Escobar said Burrell was notified of the result of the internal investigation. She said there were no similar complaints from others at the Hampton store.
Burrell is being supported by the local chapter of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference.
“We decided we’re going to take a stand because we can’t remain silent on issues of patterns and practices of discrimination,” said Andrew Shannon, chapter president. “It’s not only morally wrong, it violates federal law.”
Shannon and Burrell said that white employees were paid more than their black co-workers, who were not given pay raises.
Burrell worked at the restaurant between July 28, 2014 and Aug. 9 of this year.
Speed can be reached by phone at 247-4778.
