A Black employee at a Chick-fil-A franchise in Idaho says he endured more than a half-year of racist abuse from coworkers who, among other things, called him the “n-word,” referred to him as an “ape,” a “monkey” and threatened to cage him like an animal, according to a harrowing discrimination lawsuit obtained by The Independent.
“Of course he works at Chick-fil-A; he’s Black, so he loves chicken,” one of Thomas Wade’s colleagues allegedly said as he stood by in shock.
After Wade went to higher-ups about the vile abuse, which his complaint contends also included at least one simulated “slave whipping,” he was promptly fired. Meanwhile, management let multiple instances of sexual harassment slide because the accused happened to be the boss’s son, according to Wade’s complaint, which was filed March 13 in Pocatello federal court.
On Tuesday, a Chick-fil-A spokesperson told The Independent, “This matter involves a franchisee, not Chick-fil-A, Inc. Franchisees are independent operators responsible for all employment decisions in their restaurants. Chick-fil-A, Inc. is not involved in or aware of their employment matters.”
The franchisee, Lauren Mosteller, Inc. of Woodstock, Georgia, responded in court to the allegations on May 7, denying “each and every” one of Wade’s claims. Apart from calling for dismissal on a slew of technicalities, the response deemed the offending conduct “groundless,” and “isolated and sporadic,” and thus, “insufficient to establish a hostile work environment.”
The lawyers representing Mosteller, Inc., listed in court papers as “doing business as Chick-fil-A,” did not respond to requests for comment.
In an email, attorney Ryan Dustin, who is representing Wade, told The Independent, “[D]ue to the ongoing litigation, we have no comment at this time.”
A conservative fast-food chain founded in 1967 by a devout Southern Baptist who decreed all stores would be closed in Sundays, Chick-fil-A’s Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion webpage proudly states that its “corporate purpose” is “To glorify God by being a faithful steward of all that is entrusted to us. To have a positive influence on all who come into contact with Chick-fil-A.” In 2020, the founder’s son, Chick-fil-A chairman Dan Cathy – who has been extremely vocal about his opposition to marriage equality – spoke out in support of the Black community following the death of George Floyd while in police custody.
“Let’s be moved to action,” Cathy wrote on his personal LinkedIn profile. “Let’s join together to build a world that reflects God’s love for all of us.
At the same time, Chick-fil-A franchises in various parts of the U.S. have faced accusations of anti-Black bigotry. Last year, a Maryland man went public after a Chick-fil-A drive-thru order was labeled with the word “monkeys,” rather than his name, Marquise. In Pennsylvania, a Chick-fil-A manager reportedly forced a Black employee to stand outside in a violent thunderstorm while calling others back into the store. Still, the mere existence of its DEI program has drawn the ire of the American right for being too “woke.”
Wade began working as a cook on the “back of house crew” at an Idaho Falls Chick-fil-A in December 2022, according to his complaint.
Shortly after getting hired, Wade applied to take part in Chick-fil-A’s “Leadership Development Program,” but was passed over in favor of a white male employee, the complaint states.
The next couple of months went by largely uneventfully, according to the complaint. Then, in March 2023, Wade stepped in after seeing two coworkers, one of them his supervisor’s son, “antagonizing a third employee,” the complaint goes on.
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“In response to his attempts to intervene and diffuse the situation, [the son] told [Wade], ‘Shut up ape, before I put you in a cage,’” the complaint continues.
When Wade replied that he would report their behavior to management, the supervisor’s son called him “monkey-looking-ass,” and warned him that “my parents own this store,” according to the complaint. But, it maintains, when Wade told his supervisor about what had happened, the manager “did nothing.”
The supervisor, Eric Ibarra, and his family are not named as defendants in Wade’s lawsuit. Ibarra was unable to be reached for comment.
Distressed, the complaint says Wade took two days off “to give himself some space.” When he went back to work, several other of Ibarra’s relatives, who all worked at the same Chick-fil-A, “resumed making racist comments, which occurred over the next seven months.”
In addition to them calling Wade the n-word and likening him to an ape, and a monkey, they at one point told him he was a piece of “antique farming equipment,” in reference to slavery, according to the complaint.
On one occasion, the complaint says Wade walked in on another of Ibarra’s sons whipping a colleague with a towel, after which they told Wade that “he would know about getting whipped since he is Black.” In another instance, Wade heard one of Ibarra’s three daughters say he “look[ed] like a monkey, [and] act[ed] like a monkey,” the complaint alleges. Over the summer of 2023, Wade was subjected to a barrage of racist taunts and remarks, called a “back of house monkey,” and was shocked to find a variation of the n-word written on the kitchen freezer, according to the complaint.
It says Wade’s formal grievances continued to go nowhere. However, Ibarra’s family members went on acting out with apparent impunity, the complaint asserts. In July 2023, when another one of Ibarra’s sons was suspended for sexually harassing a coworker, and continued to do so upon his return, he was fired, according to the complaint. Yet, a month later, he was hired back, the complaint states.
In all, Wade made between 25 and 30 reports to Chick-fil-A management about the nonstop racism he was experiencing, according to the complaint. On October 16, 2023, Wade was terminated “because [he] refused to tolerate and continued to report racist behavior and comments by his coworkers,” the complaint concludes.
It alleges the company “believed it would be easier to terminate [Wade’s] employment than take any action to stop the other employees’ discriminatory behavior.”
This February, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission issued Wade a “right to sue” letter, allowing him to initiate the legal process.
The following month, he did.
Wade’s lawsuit seeks to hold Lauren Mosteller, Inc., “doing business as Chick-fil-A,” for discrimination, hostile work environment, retaliation, and intentional infliction of emotional distress, in addition to two sections of Idaho’s Human Rights Act.
He is seeking compensatory, general, statutory, and punitive damages, plus court costs and attorneys’ fees. An in-court status conference is scheduled for July 7.
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