Costa Mesa Denny’s Hit by Bias Lawsuit : Discrimination: A former waiter, who is black, says managers of the restaurant forced him from his job because of his race.

The Denny’s restaurant chain has been hit by yet another charge of racial discrimination, this time by a former waiter who alleges that managers at a Costa Mesa restaurant illegally cut back his hours and eventually forced him to quit.

The allegations, made in a Superior Court suit filed Friday in Santa Ana by Andre Anderson, who is black, came one day after five African-Americans from San Diego alleged that another Denny’s restaurant in Costa Mesa refused to serve them. A number of racial discrimination allegations elsewhere in the country earlier had prompted Denny’s to sign an agreement with the NAACP to institute minority recruitment and minority management programs.

Anderson’s complaint, which involves alleged discrimination between November, 1991, and March, 1992, when he quit, “fits the pattern, I think . . . of serious problems at Denny’s,” said James Sims, Anderson’s attorney. “There are serious problems that need to be corrected . . . from management all the way down.”

Denny’s executives in Spartanburg, S.C., who had not seen a copy of the suit on Monday afternoon, declined to comment on Anderson’s allegations. “We can say that discrimination of any type is not tolerated in our restaurants,” a spokeswoman said. “There are avenues to discuss concerns . . . and we have an open communication policy posted on employee bulletin boards.”

Anderson alleges that his reputation as an “excellent employee and worker” was destroyed shortly after he started working at the restaurant on South Bristol in 1991. The suit alleges that Denny’s managers failed to intervene after one of Anderson’s white co-workers began to make racially disparaging comments.

The restaurant’s managers “drastically reduced” his schedule because of his race, Anderson alleged, and relegated him to the least desirable shifts and work stations. Complaints to Denny’s executives were fruitless, according to the suit, and working conditions deteriorated to the point where Anderson was forced to quit his job in March, 1992.

Anderson is seeking more than $2 million in compensatory and punitive damages. Sims said the suit was filed after more than a year of settlement discussions with Denny’s officials. “We’d attempted to avoid litigation as long as possible,” Sims said. “But talks with (Denny’s) were not getting anywhere and we had (a statutory requirement) to file our suit.”

Racial discrimination suits against Denny’s restaurants have been filed by consumers in Northern California, North Carolina, Virginia, Florida and Maryland.