September 7, 2025
Roberta Mendez’s lawsuit claims coworkers referred to her as ‘nappy headed [N-word,] burnt biscuit,’ and ‘monkey.’
Cracker Barrel, the popular restaurant with the decor that hearkens back to the Old South, is the subject of a federal lawsuit from former server Roberta Mendez, a Black woman, who is accusing one of the company’s Tennessee locations of looking the other way regarding racist behavior and attitudes from fellow employees.
According to The Independent, Mendez’s lawsuit, which was filed on Aug. 21, levies accusations that her coworkers would refer to her as “nappy headed [N-word,] burnt biscuit,” and “monkey.”
The lawsuit came during the company facing drama over revamping its logo, removing the “old-timer” in overalls. After facing backlash from conservatives who complained the company had gone “woke” with the move, the company reverted back to its old logo.
Furthermore, on at least one occasion, a shift leader pointedly told Mendez in 2024 “I don’t like Black people.” Mendez, who has worked at the Nashville-area establishment since 2015, also says in her lawsuit that despite either meeting or exceeding the expectations in her performance reviews, she was “treated less favorably than her Caucasian counterparts who made derogatory comments to [her] based on her race,” during that same time period.
Among the more explosive claims, as well as a familiar one concerning Cracker Barrel’s culture in the lawsuit, is Mendez’s assertion that management at the restaurant “segregated its Black workers from its Caucasian workers,” and when she brought her concerns to her superiors, instead of disciplining the employees she told the company was engaging in unsavory behavior towards her, she was instead written up.“
When Mendez escalated her concerns to Human Resources, she was only told not to sign the write-up,” per the complaint, “No remedial action was taken.”
In August 2024, after her working conditions still had not improved, Mendez went further up the chain of command and submitted a grievance to Cracker Barrel’s corporate division which detailed “her treatment and the treatment of other Black employees.”
However, much like when she escalated her concerns to the company’s HR department, Mendez was the only one held accountable. Despite doing nothing wrong, she was fired the next month for what the company described as “breaking company policy,” while none of her white coworkers were called to account for their reported conduct.
Cracker Barrel has faced discrimination lawsuits before, in 2010, it settled a civil rights lawsuit brought by the Department of Justice which alleged that the company “engaged in a pattern or practice of denying to African-American customers and potential customers, on the basis of their race or color, the use and enjoyment of the facilities, services, and accommodations of Cracker Barrel restaurants on the same basis as they make such available to non-African-American persons.”
Further back, in 2004, the company agreed to pay $8.7 million to settle all lawsuits brought by the NAACP, lawsuits which indicated that the company engaged in the segregation of Black and white patrons, complete with allegations that it served Black patrons food that had been reclaimed from trash cans. According to The African American Registry, the settlement is similar to another settlement it provided to the Justice Department.
“That settlement found that Black customers at many of the country store-themed restaurants were seated in areas segregated from white patrons, frequently received inferior service, and often were made to wait longer for tables. Blacks who complained about poor service also were treated less favorably than whites,” the African American Registry noted.
Representatives for Cracker Barrel, meanwhile, did not respond to a request for comment from The Independent before they ran their story.
According to Kyle Biesecker, who along with his co-counsel Rachel Ringer, are representing Mendez in her lawsuit against the company, the next step is for Cracker Barrel to officially respond to their lawsuit, which he believes will lead to depositions.
“Next, Cracker Barrel will file their answer to the complaint and discovery will proceed from there,” Biesecker told The Independent. “We expect depositions to bear out many of the facts as alleged by Ms. Mendez.”
Mendez is suing under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, a federal law that prohibits discrimination on the basis of race, sex, religion or national origin, and the substance of her complaint revolves around the accusation that Cracker Barrel “subjected her to pervasive harassment on the basis of her race, created a hostile work environment, and terminated her employment… when she complained of racially disparaging comments and behavior from her coworkers and supervisors.”
Mendez seeks reinstatement to her position at both the salary and seniority which she would have earned were she not fired by the company, in addition to back pay, lost benefits, compensatory and punitive damages with interest, and a trial by jury, Mendez is requiring the company to cover her court costs and legal fees if it loses in court.
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