Man Sues Local Popeye's For Racial Discrimination

Seven Speller is suing the Popeye's fried chicken franchise for racial discrimination after an incident that went down at the food court in The Gallery, Philly's Center City mall. Victor Fiorillo over at Philly Mag is reporting that Speller quickly popped down to the food court to grab lunch from Popeye's when he was shortchanged by the employee running the register. While that situation in and of itself doesn't warrant any kind of accusation of racist behavior, the details of the transaction surely do.

Speller, who is African American, said he paid for his combo meal with a $20 bill, but only received change for a $10 bill. The receipt backs up Speller's claim, and shows that Speller paid with a 20. When Speller brought the shortchange to the attention of the cashier, who was not African American, she claimed that she didn't remember Speller giving her the 20. She called over her manager, who was also not African American, to handle the situation. He told Speller that they would count the drawer instead of simply making up the difference even though the receipt showed he paid with a $20 bill.

Speller asked the manager why he wouldn't just honor the receipt and would instead count the drawer where a mistake could easily be made. The manager then replied, "This is how we're dealing with you, the receipt means nothing." He then tried to snatch the receipt out of Speller's hand. Speller then told the manager that his actions were unfair and racist, to which the other employee told Speller that the police were on the way, and that he should "Get away from here and never come back."

Apparently, mall security and the police did show up soon after. They took statements and filed a report, but Speller was never repaid. Thankfully, Speller decided to take action instead of letting sleeping dogs lie, and is now suing the chain in federal court. We'll update you as the case progresses, so stay tuned.

· Man Sues Popeye's For Racial Discrimination [The Philly Post]
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