Black Ex-Culver's Employee Says Co-Worker Made A KKK Display In The Store
By Gwendolyn Purdom in News on Aug 10, 2016 4:19PM
Updated: 10 a.m. August 11
Today in horrifying news: A black former employee at a Culver's location in south suburban Orland Park says she came to work one morning in July to find what appeared to be a tiny recreation of a Ku Klux Klan cross burning made from water cups and straws waiting behind the cash register for her. Diamond Williams told ABC 7 that she quit her job at the Wisconsin-based custard chain this past weekend when the manager-in-training responsible for the display returned to work after a brief suspension.
Williams told ABC the items remained on the counter for more than two hours and that when she confronted the co-worker who'd made it, he told her he'd meant it as a joke. Terrified and clearly not amused (who did he think would be?), Williams brought the matter to the franchise's general manager who suspended the offending co-worker, but only temporarily. The perpetrator was eventually fired this week when it became clear Williams and other employees weren't comfortable with his return to work.
In a statement to Chicagoist, Culver's called the manager-in-training's actions "reprehensible" and said an investigation into the incident is ongoing:
"Treating everyone with fairness and respect has been at the heart of how Culver’s operates. We proudly welcome people from all walks of life into our restaurants, our guests and the team members and restaurant leadership who serve them. We do not tolerate acts of discrimination."
This isn't Culver's first run-in with accusations of discriminatory behavior within its ranks in recent memory. Last year, a former franchisee sued the company claiming it wouldn't allow him to open a location on Chicago's South Side. Instead of operating in the predominately black South Side, Michael Wilbern said the restaurant pushed him to open his location in the predominantly white suburb of Franklin Park. The restaurant chain denied the claim and in early June, a federal court jury unanimously found in Culver’s favor, according to Culver's spokesman Paul Pitas.
A lawyer working with Williams told CBS News the restaurant's response to the incident was unacceptable and Williams says she's considering legal action.