A Black former restaurant employee filed a lawsuit against his former employer, alleging that the North Dakota restaurant never took action to correct the racial harassment he suffered at his workplace and never paid him for more than 1,000 hours of overtime.
Korey Lee Patterson is suing Taste of Philly Development Company, Inc. for wage theft, racial harassment, and retaliation, according to Valley News Live.
The civil complaint was filed earlier this month and alleges that during Peterson’s months-long stint at a Taste of Philly restaurant in Fargo, North Dakota, he was misclassified as a salaried, overtime-exempt employee when, in reality, his duties would be designated as non-exempt under federal and state labor law.
Peterson’s job responsibilities included food preparation, cashiering, cleaning, and inventory.
Because of the alleged misclassification, the lawsuit states that Peterson was never paid for roughly 1,016 hours of overtime that he worked at the restaurant.
“The way that he was used as an employee was less like a manager, less like a salaried employee, and more like an hourly employee,” Peterson’s lawyer, Bruce Ringstrom, said.
On top of the lost wages, Peterson added that he was racially harassed by a supervisor, who repeatedly used racial slurs, like the N-word, and called him “boy” during his shifts.
Peterson says multiple coworkers were privy to the conduct and that the restaurant failed to discipline the supervisor or address the harassment. The North Dakota Department of Human Rights did look into the harassment complaints, but the agency’s investigation turned up nothing.
However, Peterson’s attorney says his team has proof.
“Since we’ve gotten involved, we’ve got notarized statements from previous employees who do substantiate those claims, that those derogatory names were used against him, in the store, that other people heard them,” Ringstrom added. “We do have that evidence.”
After Peterson began complaining about his pay and working conditions, the suit alleges the restaurant retaliated by subjecting him to heightened scrutiny. His attorney said management began to monitor and micro-manage him closely and point out tiny mistakes.
The suit lists four counts against Taste of Philly, including unpaid overtime and misclassification under the Fair Labor Standards Act; unpaid final wages, accrued paid time off, and mileage reimbursement under North Dakota law; race discrimination and hostile work environment under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the North Dakota Human Rights Act; and retaliation.
Peterson is demanding unpaid wages, liquidated damages, compensatory damages for emotional distress, and statutory penalties, and other relief.
“He wants his slice of justice,” Ringstrom said. “He wants to feel that this kind of behavior is not going to happen to somebody else, and he wants to be made financially whole.”
In a Facebook comment, the restaurant wrote, “Taste of Philly does not comment on any pending litigation. We look forward to defending ourselves in a court of law.”
An individual connected to the establishment also wrote follow-up comments on social media:
“I want to remind everyone that these are all allegations,” a second comment reads. “While we cannot comment on these specific claims, we do dispute the nature of them. No one has found us guilty of any of these claims and as I have said, we will defend ourselves in a court of law, not in the media.”
“No one witnessed me do any such thing, especially since I do not live or work in North Dakota,” the person said in a third comment.
