Legendary restaurant Roscoe’s House of Chicken ‘n Waffles has to cough up $1.6 million in an unlawful termination suit to an African American man who claimed he was discriminated against because he was black.
The claim proves to be somewhat ironic given that the owner of the eatery, where President Barack Obama once dined when visiting Compton, is African American.
CBS Los Angeles reported that Daniel Beasley sued Roscoe’s for firing him after he complained to human resources that the managers harassed him for being black and gave preferential treatment, such as better work hours, to the Hispanic employees.
“It’s owned by an African American owner, but he gives full authority to the Hispanics to run it,” Beasley told reporters. “It just caught me by surprise because here I am getting fired when I’m trying to fix the problem.”
Beasley was frustrated that his complaints to management never got addressed, so he sued. “It’s owned by an African American owner, but he gives full authority to the Hispanics to run it,” he told reporters. “It just caught me by surprise because here I am getting fired when I’m trying to fix the problem.”
Beasley explained to CBS that he became homeless after he lost his job, so the hefty settlement becomes a huge victory for the grandfather from Compton.
His lawyer Scott Cummings hopes that this win sends a message to other businesses out there. “Racism, racial harassment can occur really anywhere even in a black-owned business,” he asserted. Beasley added, “You can’t treat people like that and get away with it constantly.”