Five Black women who allege they were turned away from a Pennsylvania Denny’s because of electrical issues are suing for racial discrimination, claiming they went inside to use the bathroom and saw the restaurant operating normally, serving an all-white crowd.
“The lights are flickering,” a hostess at the Denny’s in Bloomsburg allegedly told Daniella Bonhomme, Tatiana Poulard, Aminique Kirnon, Selina Sacasa and Quantavia Grant on Jan. 14, 2024, after intercepting them in the vestibule when they stopped for lunch during a road trip.
But on their way to the restrooms, the women claim they passed tables of white patrons eating and being served, with no sign of any light issues. They recorded the scene and later posted the video to social media.
Bloomsburg is a 13,400-population town alongside the Susquehanna River about 150 miles west of New York City, according to the World Population Review.
The women, all originally from New York, alleged in a federal civil rights lawsuit filed Wednesday that they “were humiliatingly denied seating and service at the Denny’s in Bloomsburg, Pennsylvania simply because of the color of their skin,” according to the complaint lodged in United States District Court, Middle District of Pennsylvania. “Clearly, the alleged ‘flickering’ lights were nothing more than a pretext for blatant racial discrimination.”
Denny’s did not respond to equests for comment from the Daily News. The restaurant chain has a history of racial allegations and has taken measures to address practices.
“This is something that was incredibly blatant and obvious to anyone who could have seen it,” said attorney Kyle Platt, who with lawyer Jacqueline Carranza is representing the women with Elefterakis, Elefterakis & Panek in New York City. “They entered the restaurant and were immediately basically ushered away, while all the white patrons were able to eat without issue.”
“Our clients were deeply hurt by what happened that day,” Carranza told The News. “There was no reason for any employee to rush to them before they even entered the premises.”
Kirnon posted the video of the incident to TikTok, where it racked up more than 40,000 views.
Denny’s corporate vice president Chioke Elmore, who is also Black, tried to “placate and persuade” Kirnon that the restaurant had not been discriminating. “I look like you, and I wouldn’t want to work here if they didn’t want people like us to eat here,” she said, according to the complaint.
Elmore offered Kirnon a free meal “as if a Denny’s Grand Slam could wipe away the emotional distress from the harrowing violation of Plaintiffs’ civil rights,” the complaint alleges, adding Kirnon and her friends “continue to suffer severe mental anguish and emotional distress” including “depression, humiliation, embarrassment, stress and anxiety, loss of self-esteem and self-confidence, and emotional pain and suffering.”
The suit was filed two days after Denny’s announced it was being acquired by TriArtisan Capital Advisors, a private equity investment company, partnering with the investment firm Treville Capital and with one of the chain’s largest franchisees, Yadav Enterprises, for $620 million, and taken private.
In 1994, the chain paid $54 million in 1994 to thousands of Black customers who had been refused service, waited longer than white customers, or been charged more than light-skinned customers. The complaint cites several other instances of discrimination allegations Denny’s has been subject to over several decades.
“They’re not just demanding a free meal,” Carranza said of her clients. “They’re demanding justice.”
With News Wire Services
