Five Black women are suing Denny’s for alleged racial discrimination they experienced during their road trip.
According to the The New York Daily News, friends Daniella Bonhomme, Tatiana Poulard, Aminique Kirnon, Selina Sacasa and Quantavia Grant were traveling through Pennsylvania from New York when they stopped at Denny’s in the small town of Bloomsburg.
When they entered and chatted with the hostess, they alleged that an employee refused to seat them because of an electrical issue at the location. They happened to use the bathroom and found that the business was functioning as usual. They also noticed that the patrons were white.
Why are five Black women suing Denny’s?
On Nov. 19, the five women filed a federal civil rights lawsuit in the United States District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania. Court documents state that the plaintiffs felt they “were humiliatingly denied seating and service at the Denny’s in Bloomsburg, Pennsylvania, simply because of the color of their skin.”
In an effort to remedy the situation, Denny’s Vice President Chioke Elmore, who is also Black, reached out to Kirnon and tried to reassure her that what happened at the Bloomsburg location was not about race, according to the lawsuit.
“I look like you, and I wouldn’t want to work here if they didn’t want people like us to eat here,” Elmore said.
Court filings state that Elmore offered Kirnon a free meal, which the women say felt like an attempt to minimize what they experienced rather than acknowledge the situation.
The complaint argues that the encounter left the group dealing with ongoing “severe mental anguish and emotional distress” — including “depression, humiliation, embarrassment, stress and anxiety, loss of self-esteem and self-confidence, and emotional pain and suffering.”
“This is something that was incredibly blatant and obvious to anyone who could have seen it,” Kyle Platt, a member of the legal team representing the group, told The Daily News. “They entered the restaurant and were immediately basically ushered away, while all the white patrons were able to eat without issue.”
“Our clients were deeply hurt by what happened that day,” attorney Jacqueline Carranza, who is working with Platt, added. “There was no reason for any employee to rush to them before they even entered the premises.”
@aimeemichelle_mimi Nah, yall really tried it @dennysdiner. Imagine Denny's diner chain making ads that claims to be America's Diner – their chief marketing officer Frances Allen said "There's a soul to a diner that is very authentic, very warm, very accepting." Clearly, that's not the case 9… the hostess/waitress ran to the door, to deny us service due to a power outage.
♬ original sound – Aimee Michelle
What happened at Denny’s?
Kirnon recorded a video while inside to show that the Denny’s hostess’s statement that “the lights were flickering” was false. On Jan. 14, 2024, she uploaded the footage to her TikTok page. In the recording, she and one of the ladies walk through the restaurant, noting that the electricity is working just fine. Additionally, they were surprised to see that daily operations were underway and the all-white guests were eating.
“We’re over here at this Denny’s, and this lady told us that we can’t come here to eat because the lights are flickering,” Kirnon said in the clip.
Kirnon then attempted to film the woman who told her and her friends they couldn’t be served, but she turned and walked away from the camera. That’s when another employee overheard her narrating and chimed in, saying the lights were “flickering,” but they’re back on now. The waitress’s comment led Kirnon to push back, saying they were literally just told the opposite.
“Let me tell y’all why we’re offended by this,” Kirnon said after leaving to find another place for her and her friends to eat. “They had two doors. We walked to the first door and the lady ran to the second door and she was like, ‘Oh, we can’t any orders right now because the lights are flickering.’ And I’m just like… okay. And I’m like, you know what, ‘We do need to use the bathroom.'”
She added, “And when we went inside, what happened?” To which her friends shared that the claims from the hostess weren’t valid and that there were plenty of white people eating.