Shoney's

Haynes v. Shoney’s, filed April 4, 1989, in the Northern District of Florida, alleged company-wide race discrimination against Black employees and applicants, including steering Black workers into kitchen jobs and away from serving and management. The Baltimore Sun reported deposition claims that founder Raymond Danner ordered managers to cut Black staff when he thought a store had too many, and that managers were told it was “too cloudy” and to “lighten it up.” Those are allegations and deposition accounts in a case resolved by settlement, not findings after trial.

• Class allegations
  1989–93: Haynes alleged company-wide bias against Black workersThe Baltimore Sun reported on January 31, 1993, that the suit, filed in 1989 by Shoney’s employees in Pensacola, charged that founder and former chairman Raymond L. Danner ordered managers to dismiss Black workers when he believed a restaurant had too many, and that Black employees were shunted into low-paying, low-visibility kitchen jobs, with a preference for white servers, cashiers, and managers. The Sun quoted a manager’s deposition that stores with too many Black employees were told it was “too cloudy” and to “lighten it up some.” Plaintiffs’ lawyers, the Sun said, put Black workers at 38.6 percent of kitchen staff in 1989 versus 8.4 percent of servers and 1.8 percent of managers. The Civil Rights Litigation Clearinghouse identifies the caption as Haynes v. Shoney’s, N.D. Fla., filed April 4, 1989. Those are allegations and deposition accounts resolved by consent decree, not a trial verdict.Source: The Baltimore Sun ↗