In-N-Out Accused of Ignoring Older African-American Applicants

Two men filed a lawsuit this month in Alameda County Superior Court, accusing California-based In-N-Out Burger of rejecting middle-aged, ans in favor of a younger, less diverse workforce.

Alonzo Brown and Carlos Dubose both live in Oakland, a city where over a quarter of the residents identify as African American, approximately three times more than in California generally. Despite such demographics, the lawsuit claims that In-N-Out’s employees “are ‘predominantly’ young and not black” across the board. Brown claimed that, although he qualified for both jobs, In-N-Out denied him Cleanup Associate and Store Associate positions in July and August of this year, respectively.

The plaintiffs hope to represent others affected by what they claim are “systematic discriminatory hiring practices” and seek back pay, compensatory and punitive damages. Wrongdoers pay compensatory damages to compensate victims for the harm suffered, while punitive damages exist to punish the wrongdoer and deter him from repeating the wrongful behavior.

In-N-Out’s General Counsel responded strongly that the accusations “have no basis in fact,” that “In-N-Out Burger does not discrimination on the basis of ethnicity, race or age in its hiring policies or practices” and claimed that the restaurants where Brown and Dubose applied “each have a workforce that is over 23% African American,” which would exceed their community demographic.

If you feel you have been discriminated against based on your age, race or any other reason, please contact Khorrami, LLP for a confidential consultation.