ARLINGTON, Texas — Legends Hospitality, the food and catering service at AT&T Stadium that is partially-owned by Cowboys owner Jerry Jones, has been sued by a former AT&T Stadium kitchen supervisor over discrimination claims, according to court documents.
The kitchen supervisor in the lawsuit alleges that his immediate manager called him racist, derogatory names multiple times but that he was later fired for alerting the alleged discrimination to another management, the documents say.
The lawsuit states that the kitchen supervisor, a Hispanic man, had worked at AT&T Stadium for Legends since 2012 and enjoyed working for the company until he got a new immediate manager.
The lawsuit alleges that the manager was racist and hostile towards the kitchen supervisor from day one, and on numerous occasions called him a racial slur. According to the lawsuit, the kitchen supervisor confronted the manager and other management about the alleged discrimination, but nothing was done and the "lack of accountability pushed [the manager] to become more hostile and discriminatory."
The manager then began to harass the temporary workers at AT&T Stadium based on their race, the lawsuit alleges. The temporary workers voiced their concerns to the kitchen supervisor, the lawsuit said, and he, in turn, voiced those concerns to management again. Nothing was done after this report, either, according to the lawsuit.
The racist remarks by the manager toward the kitchen supervisor continued, the lawsuit alleges, when the manager started talking about the kitchen supervisor's Hispanic origins, "telling him to return to the Gulf of Mexico and making it known that Hispanic/Latino people were not going to be treated the same."
"Ultimately [the manager], in retaliation for everything that [kitchen supervisor] had reported, mounted an offensive creating false allegations and rumors," the lawsuit stated. "Instead of investigating and handling illegal discriminatory acts by one of its managers, [Legends Hospitality] chose to ignore this and simply terminate [kitchen supervisor] because he had complained about the discriminatory practices."
In a statement to WFAA, the kitchen supervisor's attorney said his client "is disappointed and upset that this type of discrimination was allowed to happen at the facility and that instead of investigating and remedying the issue, they decided to terminate him."
Legends Hospitality sent the following statement to WFAA regarding the lawsuit: "Thanks for reaching out. No comment from Legends."
WFAA has also reached out to the Dallas Cowboys for comment.
The kitchen supervisor is seeking a trial by jury and also back pay from the date of his termination in an amount the court would deem equitable.
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