At least one racially-charged lawsuit has emerged amid the Cracker Barrel controversy.

The Tennessee-based restaurant chain made major waves when its CEO announced the Southern staple would be revamping its traditional image for a soulless and unimaginative reboot. Adding to the backlash was the revelation that Cracker Barrel had been quietly infiltrated by woke DEI practices behind the scenes for years.

Cracker Barrel has since walked back its effort to reform the restaurant into something its customers don’t want, but not without lawsuits.

Amid the attempt to clean up its image, Roberta Mendez, a black waitress who works at one of the Tennessee locations, sued the chain over alleged racism.

Mendez was allegedly called a “burnt biscuit”, a “monkey,” as well as the n-word, according to an August 21st lawsuit, the Daily Mail reported.

Black Cracker Barrel server claims she was called a ‘burnt biscuit’ by white coworkers https://t.co/ppf1fh5cAh

— Daily Mail US (@Daily_MailUS) September 3, 2025

She also claimed that she had been “physically pushed and hit” while her white co-workers were treated better and were allegedly “segregated” from black workers.

Mendez reportedly told the restaurant managers about the alleged treatment in 2023, but was “retaliated” against by general manager, Jack Kinle, according to the DM.

“Kinle retaliated against Mendez and wrote Mendez up in 2023. When Mendez escalated her concerns to Human Resources, she was only told not to sign the write-up. No remedial action was taken regarding her complaint,” the lawsuit claims.

The abuse allegedly continued with a shift leader telling Mendez, “I don’t like black people” as recently as August 2024.

That’s when Mendez, who always “met or exceeded” work expectations, according to the lawsuit, took her complaints to human resources.

Mendez was subsequently fired on September 28 and was accused of breaking company policy, according to the DM.

“Next, Cracker Barrel will file their answer to the complaint and discovery will proceed from there,’ Mendez’s attorney, Kyle Biesecker, said. “We expect depositions to bear out many of the facts as alleged by Ms. Mendez.”

Mendez is seeking lost compensation and wants her job back, reported the DM.

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