Paula Deen employee says he was called ‘My Little Monkey’ by one of her family members
By Your Black World
The legal problems for celebrity chef Paula Deen might just be beginning. It is being reported that Deen is being accused by even more employees of various forms of highly disturbing racial problems that occurred behind the scenes with her company. One employee even said that a Deen family member referred to him as “my little monkey.”
Revelations of additional details behind the scandal have provided added insight into why the Food Network was so quick to release Deen after she admitted to having used racial slurs in the past.
The allegations surfaced after Deen and her brother, Bubba Hiers, were being sued by Lisa T. Jackson, a former employee who said that Deen exposed her to a hostile work environment. Robert Patillo, an attorney for Rainbow/PUSH, says that a current employee and two former employees said that white employees are paid more than Black employees and they are also given faster and more frequent promotions.
One Black man, when he threatened to go to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission said Deen’s brother told him “you don’t have any civil rights here,” according to a press release sent out by Rainbow/PUSH.
Rainbow/PUSH said it has “found evidence of systemic racial discrimination and harassment” by Deen and that “a family member consistently referred to a Black cook as ‘my little monkey.’”
Patillo also claims that employees at Deen’s restaurant claim that Paula “preferred white and light-skinned Blacks to work with customers.” She allegedly kept the dark-skinned Blacks in the back of the restaurant.
“What we’ve found is that there has been disparate treatment,” Patillo said. “What we’d like is to have her remedy the situation.”
