Oakland residents Alonzo Brown and Carlos Dubose have filed a lawsuit against In-N-Out Burger, accusing the fast food chain of race and age discrimination. Brown and Dubose, who are both African Americans over age 40, demand back pay for "systematic discriminatory hiring practices" at In-N-Out.
In May, Dubose saw an online posting for a cleanup associate job at a San Francisco In-N-Out that was "accepting applications for all shifts." After being denied the position, he submitted an application for an Oakland In-N-Out, but was turned away even though the manager expressed a need to hire five people within two months.
Brown applied for a store associate job at the chain's Oakland location, but was denied two months after meeting with the store manager even though the company was still hiring.
The lawsuit reads, "These are not isolated examples of employment practices or individual decisions. On the contrary, these incidents are representative of the Company's systematic discrimination against the Class and in favor of applicants who are under the age of forty and/or not African American."
The plaintiffs' attorney, Steve Tidrick, argues that In-N-Out Burger has "a pervasive policy of discrimination on the basis of race, color, and age."
Arnie Wesinger, vice president of In-N-Out, responds: "The allegations in the lawsuit have no basis in fact. In-N-Out Burger does not discriminate on the basis of ethnicity, race or age in our hiring policies or practices. We hire from our local communities and our restaurants reflect the demographics of that community.
The Vice President points out that 23 percent of the Oakland and San Francisco locations are comprised of African-Americans.
"The company will aggressively defend itself against these baseless and irresponsible allegations," Wesinger added.