You'd think after all of the racial discrimination at Denny's in the early 1990s, that the company would have learned its lesson by now. They settled the lawsuits, they brought minorities into executive management positions, they made a boatload of contributions to minority organizations. They even brag about how all 70,000 Denny's corporate and franchise employees, both management and non-management, have received their "award-winning" diversity training. Well, they may not be discriminating against Asians, Blacks, and Hispanics any more, but clearly they must have left out the section on Arab Americans:
The seven men say they went to Fernandez's restaurant in Florida City, on the southern tip of the Florida peninsula, about 2 a.m. Jan. 11, 2004. They say they were seated, given menus and received their drink orders. But an hour later, their food hadn't arrived. One of the men — Ehab Albaradi — approached Ascano and inquired about the group's order, the lawsuit says.
Ascano allegedly said: "Bin Laden is the manager of the kitchen" and "Bin Laden is in charge."
Albaradi and a second man, Usama El-A-Baidy, decided to speak to Ascano again about their order.
Angered, Ascano told the short order cooks in the kitchen to cancel the group's order, the suit claims.
El-A-Baidy then asked Ascano why he had used the name bin Laden.
"We don't serve bin Ladens here! You guys, out!" Ascano allegedly said.
Denny's at it again: FL men sue after being called 'bin Ladens'
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I would like to thank you for your comments on your website.
If I may say that people like you that encouraged us to come to this country and give us the emotional support in our fight to educate the American public about the American core values that they either forgot or chose to forget.
I have chosen you to be the first to receive a personal response since the headlines.
Let me also tell you, for those that elected to fill their hearts with hate, you can not put out fire with same. Those that compared us with Usama Bin Laden are living their own lies. And for those who lost loved ones on 9/11/2001 I say, I feel your pain, am as sad and angry as you are, I wish it never happened and a wish I could have stopped it… but you must also know that I didn’t do it nor did millions of Arabs and Muslims that suffered dearly to live in this country. Those honest, hard working families live here because they share your values and oppose the terrorist.
If I may also add, we have suffered more from them than you will ever know. It’s only recently that you knew what terror is, we lived it, we lost our loved ones on their hands long before you did, and know we continue to be blamed for their actions even though we hate them more than you do.
My wife is a white American 3rd generation Florida born and raised; she is the most honest, loving, caring person I ever met. She doesn’t see me as foreigner, nor does she blame me for 9/11. We accepted each other as hundreds of our friends, neighbors and family accepted our marriage.
It’s also important to note that my heart bleeds for those who lost loved ones on 9/11 and those who lost their lives in retaliation.
I also need to ask them some questions:
What happened to America’s Freedom?
What happened to Americans justice?
What happened to America’s tolerance?
What happened to America’s Values?
We offered you love, you are rejecting it. May god help you if need love, and there is no love to be given.
We love this country and we will defend our image, we are as Americans as it gets!
Going back to the discrimination issue, you might agree with me that physical damage heals fast, but emotional damage lasts a lifetime. We are determined to educate Americans about our mutual values and love for this country as much as we are determined to win this case.
Posted by: Freedom Lover | May 01, 2005 at 02:25 AM