A Black girl who labored as an operations supervisor at a Chick-fil-A restaurant in suburban Philadelphia is suing the fast-food hen franchise and its proprietor, who she says subjected her to nonstop racial and homosexual slurs for almost two years, and likewise denigrated Black prospects and colleagues.
In her federal civil rights lawsuit filed on Jan. 29 (and obtained by Atlanta Black Star), Tiffany Lynch, 38, claims that Joshua Grimm, proprietor/operator and president of the Chick-fil-A franchise in Wayne, Pennsylvania, created a hostile work surroundings by making discriminatory jokes and feedback and handled Black workers and job candidates otherwise than their white counterparts.
When she objected to the discrimination, Lynch says, she was fired in retaliation.
Grimm, who’s white, often used the time period “ni—er” many occasions in her presence, Lynch claims, and made feedback insinuating that Black prospects “scent,” “would require additional cleanup,” and “are low-cost,” counting on meals stamps.
“He didn’t make these similar varieties of racist or stereotypical feedback with Caucasians, no matter their scent or look,” the lawsuit says. “It was clear racism, as he made such feedback even about clear, professional-looking, or well-to-do Black clientele.”
Grimm was disinclined to rent Black candidates, Lynch says, typically asking her if the individual was “ghetto Black” or “Nasir Black,” referencing “a well-spoken {and professional} Black worker” employed on the Wayne Sq. restaurant, Nasir Stanley.
The restaurant employed far fewer Black than non-Black workers, the lawsuit says, and Grimm held Black workers to a better or totally different customary than white workers and handled them “rather more harshly” by way of communication, self-discipline and termination.
Grimm, 33, who was Lynch’s direct supervisor, additionally made unwelcome feedback alluding to her sexual orientation, typically telling Lynch to get one thing “out of the closet” after which saying she may not come again “out of the closet” or that he didn’t need her to have to come back out of the closet once more, the lawsuit says.
Lynch was employed in December 2023 as government director of operations and managed the front- and back-end operations of the restaurant for almost two years. She says that over the last a number of months of her work with Grimm, she pushed again and complained to him straight about his discriminatory and offensive habits.
She claims she advised Grimm that “what he was saying and doing was discrimination,” together with racist and homophobic feedback about herself and their clientele. Lynch maintains that she complained to Grimm about his discriminatory hiring practices and warned that he shouldn’t discriminate in opposition to Black candidates by attempting to discourage sure hires and asking in the event that they had been “ghetto.”
Grimm nonetheless continued his discriminatory, offensive and unprofessional habits, the lawsuit says.
Lynch introduced her issues to Chick-fil-A’s human assets consultant, who occurred to be Grimm’s sister, which resulted in no investigation of or “significant or precise redress” of her discrimination complaints, she alleges.
Her expressions of concern and efforts to set “non-discrimination boundaries” noticeably pissed off Grimm near the time that she was terminated, the lawsuit contends.
Whereas on a deliberate and authorized five-day trip in November 2025, Lynch says Grimm abruptly minimize off her entry to the corporate electronic mail.
Alarmed, she despatched an electronic mail to Chick-fil-A company supervisor Alvin Thompson and outlined the alleged historical past of discrimination and retaliation by Grimm that had gone unaddressed, and mentioned that she was searching for assist exterior of the native franchise.
In response, Thompson wrote, “I’m unable to offer any steerage,” in accordance with his electronic mail embedded within the criticism.
The next day, Nov. 10, 2025, when she returned from trip, Grimm fired Lynch, ostensibly for not asking him to approve the workers schedule she had ready and distributed earlier than she left on trip. However Lynch says Grimm had by no means required such approval for scheduling up to now.
Two weeks later, Grimm despatched her an official letter confirming she had been “terminated as a consequence of subpar efficiency.”
Lynch says Grimm had by no means earlier than raised any issues about her efficiency throughout her employment and didn’t subject any progressive self-discipline as dictated by firm coverage. She asserts that the explanations given by the CEO for terminating her had been “false and pretextual.”
“Plaintiff believes and due to this fact avers that her race was the motivating or determinative consider Defendants’ choice to terminate her employment,” the criticism says.
The lawsuit accuses Grimm and his franchise firm, JLL Hospitality, LLC, d/b/a Chick-fil-A Wayne Sq., of racial discrimination, gender/sexual orientation discrimination, hostile work surroundings and retaliation in violation of federal and state civil rights regulation.
She seeks a jury trial to find out compensatory damages to make her entire, together with entrance pay, again pay, bonuses and medical advantages; damages for emotional misery and struggling; and punitive damages.
The lawsuit additionally seeks a courtroom order to ban the defendants from sustaining an unlawful coverage and observe of retaliating in opposition to workers and “to promulgate an efficient coverage in opposition to such discrimination/retaliation.”
Grimm and Chick-fil-A Wayne Sq. didn’t reply to requests for remark from Atlanta Black Star. Grimm and his Chick-fil-A franchise have 21 days after being served to file a response to the criticism.
Different Chick-fil-A franchises have been accused of mistreating Black workers and prospects in latest months.
Final Could, Thomas Wade, a Black man who labored as a prepare dinner at a Chick-fil-A restaurant in Idaho, filed a federal employment discrimination lawsuit claiming his co-workers subjected him to relentless racial harassment, together with calling him an “ape” and “ni—er” and evaluating him to a slave.
In that case, Wade’s direct supervisor and different co-workers, whom he mentioned harassed him and refused to cease when he complained, had been members of the identical household, which owned the franchise.
Extra not too long ago, in October, a Black police officer who walked right into a Chick-fil-A in Augusta, Georgia, was humiliated when his three white companions had been supplied free breakfast whereas he needed to pay for his meals.
