Republished February 05, 2019 - 10:46 AM
Original Publication Date February 05, 2019 - 9:21 AM
ATLANTA - A federal civil rights lawsuit says a manager at an Atlanta-area Waffle House used racial epithets to refer to customers of Mexican descent.
The lawsuit filed Monday says the alleged discrimination happened in February 2017 at a restaurant in Doraville.
The lawsuit says Pabla Martinez, a U.S. citizen, went to the restaurant with her young daughter and then-husband. It says the cook and restaurant manager, a white man, used a racial slur to refer to them and muttered "Why don't they deport you to Mexico?"
The lawsuit says the family later discovered the food in their to-go order was strewn with garbage and not cooked properly.
Waffle House issued a statement Tuesday saying it is reviewing the case, does not tolerate discrimination and will respond through the legal process.
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This story has been corrected to show Martinez's first name is spelled Pabla not Paola.
News from © The Associated Press, 2019