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| FILE - In this Jan. 17, 2012 file photo, celebrity chef Paula Deen poses for a portrait in New York. A federal judge in Georgia on Monday, Aug. 12, 2013 threw out race discrimination claims by a former Savannah restaurant manager whose lawsuit against Deen ended up causing the celebrity cook to lose a big slice of her culinary empire. |
SAVANNAH, Ga.
(AP) -- A federal judge Monday threw out race discrimination claims by a
former Savannah restaurant manager whose lawsuit against Paula Deen has
already cost the celebrity cook a valuable chunk of her culinary
empire.
Lisa Jackson sued Deen and her
brother, Bubba Hiers, last year saying she suffered from sexual
harassment and racially offensive talk and employment practices that
were unfair to black workers during her five years as a manager of Uncle
Bubba's Seafood and Oyster House. Deen is co-owner of the restaurant,
which is primarily run by her brother.
But
claims of race discrimination by Jackson, who is white, were gutted in
the 20-page opinion by U.S. District Court Judge William T. Moore Jr.
The judge agreed with lawyers for Deen and Hiers that Jackson has no
standing to sue her former employers for what she claims was poor
treatment of black workers, regardless of her claims that she was
offended and placed under additional stress.
Jackson,
at best, "is an accidental victim of the alleged racial
discrimination," Moore said in his ruling. "There are no allegations
that defendant Hiers's racially offensive comments were either directed
toward plaintiff or made with the intent to harass her."
The
ruling lets stand Jackson's claims that Hiers sexually harassed her
when she worked at the restaurant from 2005 to 2010. However, the judge
said he was reserving the chance to rule on requests from Deen's lawyers
to dismiss other claims in the lawsuit.
The
judge added that to allow Jackson to seek legal recourse for
discrimination directed toward other workers "would serve to conscript
federal courts as human resource departments that are responsible for
imposing and monitoring a federally created standard for harmony in the
workplace."
Of course, Jackson's race-based
claims have already resulted in serious damage to Deen's public image.
It was Jackson's lawyer who questioned Deen under oath in May when she
acknowledged having used racial slurs in the past. A transcript of the
legal deposition became public in June, and the backlash against Deen
caused the Food Network and other corporate sponsors and business
partners to drop her.
Still, Deen's publicist issued an upbeat statement Monday.
"We
are pleased with the court's ruling today that Lisa Jackson's claims of
race discrimination have been dismissed," Elana Weiss said in a
statement emailed to The Associated Press. "As Ms. Deen has stated
before, she is confident that those who truly know how she lives her
life know that she believes in equal opportunity, kindness and fairness
for everyone."
Jackson's attorney, Matthew
Billips, did not immediately return a phone call seeking comment.
Attorneys for Deen and Hiers also did not immediately return phone
calls.
The judge's decision comes a month
after Deen and Hiers dumped their attorneys and hired a new legal team.
But the court motions seeking dismissal for all race-based claims in the
case were filed in December, months before those changes were made.
In
her lawsuit, Jackson had claimed Hiers frequently made jokes containing
racial slurs at work and prohibited black workers from using the
restaurant's front entrance and customer restrooms. She said she was
personally offended because she had biracial nieces.
Attorneys
for Deen have said in court filings that Jackson's lawsuit was based on
"scurrilous and false claims." They said before Jackson filed suit, she
threatened to embarrass Deen publicly unless she paid the ex-employee
"huge sums of money."
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