Family Sues Denny’s, Alleges Bias

A Los Angeles County family has filed a $10-million lawsuit against Denny’s, accusing the restaurant chain of racial discrimination for refusing to serve them in Torrance.

The lawsuit filed this week in Los Angeles Superior Court comes as Advantica Restaurant Group Inc., Denny’s parent company, has received widespread recognition for an unprecedented corporate make-over to erase a negative image nationally that the company routinely discriminates against minorities.

“What we have is a clear and blatant act of racial discrimination,” said attorney Melanie E. Lomax, who represents the family of Marcia M. Hooks in the lawsuit. “Denny’s continues to preach that they have reformed, but these things continue to happen. What we have is a pattern of discrimination against black people.”

The incident occurred about noon Feb. 18 as Hooks and 24 members of her family went out for an impromptu lunch the day after the funeral of her husband, Roy Hooks. The lawsuit alleges that the family called Denny’s at 182nd Street and Crenshaw Boulevard to arrange accommodations for a large party but that when they arrived they were forced to wait an hour and 45 minutes and ultimately refused service.

Denny’s investigated the complaint and found no discrimination.

“There is no evidence whatsoever that the wait for service your clients received was due to their race,” wrote Robert M. Barrett, a Denny’s vice president, in a letter to Lomax. “From the evidence we have gathered, efforts were made to serve your clients. While that service may not have been up to their expectations, there were, nonetheless, members of the group who were being seated when others in the group decided to leave.”

Hooks family members disagreed. They said that not only did the restaurant manager refuse to seat them, but that he refused to acknowledge their presence during much of their long wait. They said they were refused seating even after they said they wouldn’t mind if they were not seated together.

“I walked up to the counter and said, ‘We are part of the large party of 25 people,’ and he never even looked up at me,” Gwendolyn Hooks said. “He kept his head down.” Minutes later, she went back and asked again and the manager said someone was getting their table, she recalled. “He never looked at me.”

While they waited, she said, the children were restless and hungry. The 15 adults remained patient, not wanting to go to another restaurant. Time passed as they talked about the family’s loss.

Soon some of the white patrons who had arrived at the same time as the Hooks family had finished their meals and were leaving, Kevin Hooks recalled. “It was humiliating,” he said. “One white man came over after his meal and said, ‘Don’t let them do this to you. Fight for your rights.’ ”

By this time, an hour had passed, they said. Some wanted to leave, while others refused to go--shocked that this could be happening. They took pictures of empty seats where they could have been seated. They talked about suing.

“I’ve eaten at nice restaurants, stayed in wonderful hotels and have never been treated like this,” said Gwendolyn Hooks. “I couldn’t help but think about the children, that they had to experience this.”

Denny’s officials disagree on several key points made by the Hooks family. They say the family waited about an hour or less, that attempts were being made to seat them but some members refused, and that restaurant management did acknowledge their presence.

“I wish we could have been faster and more efficient,” said Rachelle Hood-Phillips, chief diversity officer for Advantica. “But let’s not confuse the delay of service with discrimination.”

In 1994, Denny’s paid $54 million to settle a bias suit filed by blacks who said they were denied service or forced to pay in advance for meals. A court-appointed official was picked to monitor the 1,800-chain’s treatment of minorities until last year. The Torrance restaurant, one of about 700 company-owned franchises, closed this month for financial reasons.

Hood-Phillips said Advantica has made tremendous strides since the lawsuit. The number of discrimination complaints against the chain has declined steadily since then, with only four filed so far this year, company officials say.

In a recent survey by Fortune magazine the firm was ranked first in “America’s 50 Best Companies for Minorities.” Two African Americans and one Latino serve on the company’s 10-member board. Nearly half its employees are minorities and 35% of Denny’s franchise restaurants are minority-owned. All 70,000 employees go through diversity training. Advantica Chairman Jim Adamson was named CEO of the Year by the National Assn. for the Advancement of Colored People in 1996.

But even with all its advances, Hood-Phillips said, Denny’s still has trouble shaking its image.

“We find that we are constantly having to defend ourselves against the perception,” she said. “There are customers waiting to see what can go wrong. Are they going to be seated next to the kitchen? How long does it take to serve me?”

Serving 1 million customers a day, the chain finds that many minority patrons mistake slow service for discrimination, she said.