Pact Signed by Denny’s to Settle Bias Claims : Rights: Restaurant chain denies that ‘isolated customer concerns’ constitute racial discrimination, but agrees to reinforce policies of equal treatment for all.

Denny’s restaurants signed a proposed agreement Thursday with the U.S. Department of Justice to settle government claims that the chain has discriminated against black customers.

The chain, with nearly 1,500 restaurants nationwide, acknowledged there had been “isolated customer concerns” about some since-abandoned policies, but denied its acts constituted a “pattern of racial discrimination.”

In a statement, Denny’s said it would reinforce existing policies requiring equal treatment of all customers regardless of race. The firm said it would provide special video training programs for all employees, issue public notices that it did not discriminate and hire an administrator to oversee its non-discrimination policies.

“Our agreement with the Justice Department is an affirmation of our commitment to treating all customers fairly and we intend to go even further with our own programs,” said Jerome J. Richardson, chairman and chief executive officer of TW Services Inc., parent company of Denny’s.

The agreement comes in a proposed consent decree to be filed along with a Justice Department lawsuit against Denny’s in U.S. District Court in San Francisco. The chain and the department will seek court approval to implement the decree and thus settle the suit.

The Justice Department is not authorized to seek monetary damages in its suit and the agreement will have no legal effect on a separate federal class action suit filed Wednesday in San Jose.

In that suit, a group of African-American customers is seeking damages against the chain for imposing cover charges on blacks, forcing them to pay in advance and other acts of bias in its California restaurants. Denny’s said that for security reasons some restaurants had required prepayment by groups of 10 or more after 10 p.m., but dropped the practice after complaints were filed.

In the Justice Department case, the government said in a statement it investigated allegations that Denny’s had treated black customers differently in their use of facilities, services and accommodations, violating the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

The department said its lawyers had substantiated the allegations and entered into negotiations with the restaurants to reach a settlement without going to trial.

Although details of the settlement were not made public, Coleman Sullivan, a spokesman for Denny’s, said Thursday that the consent decree contains no admission of wrongdoing. The department said the agreement involves employee training and advertising, among other things, but offered no other information pending filing of the decree.