Five NY women sue Denny’s in Pennsylvania, alleging racism
Five black women who claim they were turned away from a Pennsylvania Denny’s because of electrical problems are filing a racial discrimination lawsuit, saying they entered to use the restroom and saw the restaurant operating normally, serving an all-white crowd.
“The lights are flickering,” a hostess at the Denny’s in Bloomsburg allegedly told Daniella Bonhomme, Tatiana Poulard, Aminique Kirnon, Selina Sacasa and Quantavia Grant on January 14, 2024, after intercepting them in the vestibule as they stopped for lunch during a road trip.
But on their way to the restroom, the women say they passed tables of white customers eating and being served, with no signs of mild trouble. They recorded the scene and then posted the video on social media.
Bloomsburg is a town of 13,400 on the Susquehanna River, about 150 miles west of New York, according to the World Population Review.
The women, all from New York, alleged in a federal civil rights lawsuit filed Wednesday that they “were humiliatingly denied seating and service at Denny’s in Bloomsburg, Pennsylvania, simply because of the color of their skin,” according to the complaint filed in the United States District Court, Middle District of Pennsylvania. “Clearly, the so-called ‘flickering’ lights were nothing more than a pretext for blatant racial discrimination.”
Denny’s did not respond Wednesday to numerous requests for comment from the Daily News. The restaurant chain, following previous allegations, has taken steps to address these practices.
“This is something that is incredibly blatant and obvious to anyone who might have seen it,” said attorney Kyle Platt, who, with attorney Jacqueline Carranza, represents the women of Elefterakis, Elefterakis & Panek in New York. “They entered the restaurant and were immediately kicked out, while all the white customers were able to eat without issue.”
“Our clients were deeply hurt by what happened that day,” Carranza told The News. “There was no reason for an employee to rush towards them before they even entered the premises.”
Kirnon posted the video of the incident to TikTok, where it has been viewed more than 40,000 times.
Chioke Elmore, vice president of Denny’s, who is also black, tried to “pacify and persuade” Kirnon that the restaurant had not discriminated. “I look like you and I wouldn’t want to work here if they didn’t want people like us eating here,” she said, according to the complaint.
Elmore treated Kirnon to a free meal “as if a Denny’s Grand Slam could erase the emotional distress resulting from the heartbreaking violation of plaintiffs’ civil rights,” the complaint alleges, adding that Kirnon and his friends “continue to suffer 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.”
The suit was filed two days after Denny’s announced that it would be acquired by TriArtisan Capital Advisors, a private equity investment firm, in partnership with investment firm Treville Capital and one of the chain’s largest franchisees, Yadav Enterprises, for $620 million, and taken private.
In 1994, the chain paid $54 million to thousands of black customers who were denied service, waited longer than white customers or were charged more than light-skinned customers. The complaint cites several other instances of alleged discrimination that Denny’s faced over several decades.
“They’re not just asking for a free meal,” Carranza said. “They are demanding justice.”
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