Whittington & Associates, LLC

Pastor of Daytona Church Sues Ruby Tuesday for Racial Discrimination, Bishop Asks 5 million members to Boycott until Case Resolved

Daytona Beach, Fla. (July 20, 2009) — After two years of trying to resolve a dispute with Ruby Tuesday, a church pastor is suing the restaurant chain for refusing service to him and more than 40 members of his predominantly African-American congregation at a corporate-owned restaurant in Daytona Beach.

Reverend Loverso Walker, pastor of the Faith Temple Church of God in Christ, is asking the federal courts for compensatory and punitive damages of more than $7 million from the restaurant chain. At just after 8 p.m. Sunday, July 8, 2007, church member Agustin Lebron, who was employed as a cook at Ruby Tuesday, notified his assistant manager that he, along with Pastor Walker, the church's guest speaker and some members of the church, would visit the restaurant at 9 p.m. after the evening church service – an hour before the restaurant's closing time.

When they began arriving at the restaurant, located at 1808 International Speedway Blvd., the assistant manager refused to seat the church members – despite seating smaller groups and individuals, all non-black, who arrived at Ruby Tuesday after the church group. The pastor and members also allege some Caucasian Ruby Tuesday employees used the "N-word" during the incident.

"I felt like we were back in the sixties again," said Pastor Walker, who has been in the ministry for 30 years. "I was embarrassed, not only for our guest that night, but for the members of our congregation, especially the children, who had to go through that humiliation."

The church group eventually left Ruby Tuesday, going across the street to Denny's Restaurant. Despite having only one server working that evening, Denny's accommodated the entire group.

The pastor says he initially wanted only an apology from Ruby Tuesday management, which he did not receive.

"Even after our court mediation with Ruby Tuesday representatives last month, we've yet to get any type of apology about what happened that night," said the pastor, who plans use any financial settlement he receives for community-based church projects in the Daytona area.

Pastor Walker hired The Jones Law Firm, based in Jacksonville, Florida, which initially filed a grievance with the Florida Commission on Human Relations.

According to attorney J. Eric Jones, experts in the hospitality industry have concluded the restaurant displayed a severe lack of judgment that resulted in a situation that can be interpreted as discrimination.

"The experts say that when alerted that the group was coming, management made no effort to contact additional employees, many outsourced to other restaurants, to help deliver service that night," Jones said."

The law firm has obtained sworn affidavits during the discovery phase that proves the pastor's case under the law, while Ruby Tuesday has produced no sworn testimony in its defense. As a result of some erroneous testimony obtained by the investigators during the investigation phase, the firmdecided to withdraw from the state administrative process to obtain a jury trial.

In the suit against Ruby Tuesday, Jones is citing Section 1981 of The Civil Rights Act of 1866 , which primarily states that "a dollar in the hands of a Negro will purchase the same thing as a dollar in the hands of a white."

The Act was originally passed to prevent private individuals from charging exorbitant rent and food charges, price fixing and lifetime contracts – many prevalent methods used after the Civil War to deprive African Americans of their new-found freedom.

The pastor's allegations against Ruby Tuesday are reminiscent of several cases filed since the year 2000. Earlier this month, four African Americans sued Waffle House for refusing to serve their group, and in August 2008, a former NBA star sued an Atlanta restaurant for race discrimination.

In 2004, Cracker Barrel restaurants paid $8.7 to settle a discrimination suit for refusal of service brought by individuals along with the NAACP. In 2005, Denny's restaurants paid a $54 million to 295,000 aggrieved customers and their attorneys under a class-action lawsuit filed against the company for employee discrimination against African American customers.

The Jones Law Firm, P.A. has successfully resolved complex legal issues, negotiated, settled, and litigated cases against some of the world's largest Fortune 500 corporations and business liability insurance companies. The firm is located at 6900 Southpoint Blvd., Suite 210, in Jacksonville, Florida. For more information, contact 904-281-9898 or visit www.wecareaboutyou.com.