Paula Deen Scandal Continues As Employees Tell Rainbow/PUSH Coalition Of Alleged Discrimination

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June 24, 2013

By Fran Jeffries and Wayne Washington, Atlanta Journal Constitution

An attorney for the Rainbow/PUSH Coalition said current and former Paula Deen employees told him the famous cook and her brother discriminated against black employees, one of whom was consistently referred to as “my little monkey.”

Paula Ann Hiers Deen is an American cook, former cooking show host, restaurateur, author, actress and Emmy Award-winning television personality. — Paula Ann Hiers Deen is an American cook, TV show host, restaurateur, and author, accused of workplace racism

After Deen acknowledged using a racial slur, the story went viral and the Food Network announced on Friday that it would not renew her contract when it expires at the end of June.

Deen and her brother, Bubba Hiers, are being sued by Lisa T. Jackson, a former employee who claims she endured a hostile work environment replete with racial slurs.

[…]

Scores of people vented on the Food Network’s Facebook page. On Facebook, a ‘We Support Paula Deen’ page had more than 128,000 likes. A ‘Bring Back Paula Deen’ page started at 5 p.m. Friday by Jimmy Beck, of Carrollton, had more than 1,200 likes. “I am only 20, but I know what forgiveness is. I think it’s time we move away from this crazy political correctness,” Beck wrote in an email to the AJC [Atlanta Journal Constitution].

More than 100 people have commented in AJC’s The Buzz column.

An AJC Twitter call-out netted numerous emails and phone calls.

“I don’t think Paula should ever use the N-word, but I don’t think it merited her being fired from the Food Network,” said Wilbur E. Jordan, Jr., a 28-year old Augusta resident. “I do feel her apology was heartfelt.”

[…]

Darah Cubit, who described herself as a 22-year-old black woman from the West Coast, said she was not surprised to learn that Deen had used a racial slur.

“After all, she is an older white woman in one of the most notorious slave states in the country,” Cubit said. “However, my problem is that for years the people around her had been condoning this behavior and accepting the clearly biased opinions she had communicated off camera. Her personal beliefs and biases obviously would have affected how most of her viewers, being of slave descent, support her restaurants, shows, and special appearances.”

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