Workers At Times Square Olive Garden Allege Racial Discrimination

MIDTOWN MANHATTAN, NY — Five workers at the Times Square Olive Garden restaurant filed federal complaints against the chain's owner on Tuesday, alleging that they suffered discrimination based on their race, gender and sexual orientation while relying on tips due to the company's low pay.

The complaints were filed with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission against Darden, Inc., the company that owns Olive Garden and several other nationwide chains — and which has faced legal challenges for paying its tipped workers below minimum wage.

In September, the nonprofit One Fair Wage lodged a national complaint against Darden, alleging that the company's low wages violate the 1964 Civil Rights Act. All five Times Square workers said their low pay made them more vulnerable to discrimination.

One employee, Adam Jones, said he has been a server at the Times Square restaurant since 2008 and consistently received lower tips because he is Black. He alleged that non-Black servers were assigned to a higher-tipping section of tables every night, allowed to switch between job titles and given more desirable shifts.

Brooklynn Bruner, a white, bisexual server, said that their reliance on tips exposed them to frequent sexual harassment by customers, as well as coworkers. Resisting the harassment resulted in smaller tips, Bruner said.

Chanta Hunter, a bartender who is Black, said she has sought since 2010 to be promoted to a training position. Her requests have been denied by her general manager, who called her "abrasive" and said she did not fit the "mold" for the position, even though she has received accolades for her service, she alleged.

Hunter and another female employee, server Luna St. Furcy, say they also faced discrimination when they became pregnant, finding it difficult to access maternity leave, and, in Hunter's case, being denied the ability to sit down or take short breaks while pregnant.

Kevin Absolam, a line cook, said he and other Black cooks received shorter and fewer breaks than their colleagues and were denied the ability to work overtime or listen to music in the kitchen. In 2018, after a coworker called him the n-word and pulled a knife on him, Absolam was sent home for three days during an investigation even though coworkers vouched that he did not act inappropriately, he claims.

In a statement, a Darden spokesperson called the allegations "baseless."

"Darden is a values-based company built on a culture of integrity and fairness, respect and caring, and a longstanding commitment to diversity and inclusion," spokesperson Rich Jeffers said.

On average, employees earn more than $20 per hour across the company's chains, Jeffers said, noting that Darden began offering paid sick leave during the pandemic.

All five workers were furloughed on March 12 when the coronavirus took hold in New York City. Most of the employees said they are set to be laid off in January 2021, while Hunter said she sought to return to work, only to be denied because she was unable to work a full schedule due to her childcare responsibilities.

"Such discrimination has made us feel disrespected and has also led to us earning less money, by being denied opportunities for promotion and now not being selected to return to work when workers of other backgrounds with less seniority have been selected to return," Hunter wrote in her complaint.

Although New York raised the minimum wage to $15 earlier this year, tipped restaurant workers were excluded from the new law because some advocates said it would lead to fewer tips.