Woman sues Applebees, claims she was fired for asking customer to leave for anti-Muslim remarks

A former New Jersey Applebee’s supervisor sued the company Tuesday, claiming that she was wrongly terminated after asking a customer who had made derogatory remarks about Muslims to leave.

In addition to allegations of being wrongly fired in May 2019, the complaint says Amanda Breaud also faced “a hostile work environment where racism and bigotry were commonplace,” NBC News reports.

The suit names several defendants, including Applebee’s, Doherty Management Services – which owns the Applebee’s in question – a general manager, senior manager and bartender.

According to the lawsuit, Breaud was alerted by a customer on May 13, 2019, that a patron was making racist comments about Muslims.

When Breaud asked the customer to leave, the patron became angry, yelled at Breaud and then left, the lawsuit claims.

While several customers thanked Breaud for what she did, management of the Applebee’s did not, the suit alleges.

According to Breaud, the general manager of the store called her after her shift and chewed her out, allegedly telling her that she should have asked the offended customers to move to a different section of the restaurant.

On May 20, after her transfer request was denied, Breaud was fired “due to a false and retaliatory accusation that she had not appeared for one of her shifts,” the lawsuit reads.

Susan Nelson, vice president of communications for Applebee’s, told NBC News that, “the allegations made are in direct contrast with the values we and our franchisees uphold every day.”

Through the lawsuit, Breud is seeking her job back, back pay and benefits, as well as unspecified compensatory, consequential and punitive damages, NBC reports.