OCALA - A Florida Highway Patrol trooper has filed a discrimination lawsuit against a Denny's restaurant, saying that an employee called her a "black pig."
Barbara Levy's lawsuit was filed in Marion Circuit Court against Foster Inc., which owns the Denny's in Ocala.
According to Greg King, Levy's lawyer, Levy entered the restaurant in the early morning hours of Sept. 28, accompanied by a fellow FHP trooper and three Marion County sheriff's deputies. Levy was the only black.
When their food orders arrived, Levy's plate had a small plastic pig on it. According to the complaint, the pig "imitated the act of defecating" when squeezed.
"She didn't know what it was," King said. "She asked the server about it, and the server said the cook put it in there."
When Levy asked the cook why the pig was there, the woman said, "Well, that's what you are, a black pig," the complaint said.
Former Ocala Mayor E.L. Foster, the president of Foster Inc., said this week he fired the cook and the server the next day. Foster said he was unaware of any racial connotations to the incident. He also said all employees are required to complete Denny's-mandated diversity training.A series of discrimination lawsuits filed in the early 1990s led to a "new company," said Denny's public relations director, Debbie Atkins. Accused of making blacks prepay for meals, Denny's paid $54-million to settle a class-action lawsuit in 1994.
