Legal Question in Discrimination Law in Washington
I was treated unfairly at my local KFC ( Aberdeen Wa.) I ordered take out and requested no gravy on my mashed potatoes. When I arrived home with my order everything was right. Later I was looking at my debit receipt from KFC and I was appalled to see that printed toward the bottom was NO Gravy Bitches. I notified the manager at the time and I brought her a copy for her to see. She just brushed me off with the only explanation was that they were just screwing around. She just gave me back my monies and that was it. I notified the Dist. manager and he informed me that the employee was terminated and that I could have a free bucket of chicken. I informed him that I will never go back to that store again for fear of retalliation from the terminated employee ( Kenneth it was also printed on the top of the receipt) friends or relatives due to this being such a small area. I feel that I was treated unfairly and not compensated for the way I was treated. What rights do I have?
1 Answer from Attorneys
Unfortunately, your case it seems to me does not have good facts to support a discrimination claim. First, I think that you may be able to prove that when he wrote "bitches" he was referring to you being a woman, which supports a claim that you were discriminated against based upon your sex, which is the type of discrimination the law seeks to protect. However, it appears that your damages are nominal in this case. You got what you ordered, were not aware of the comment until you got home, and even then, this note amounts more to an insult than a discriminatory act, although it could also be construed as discriminatory as well as insulting. Beyond that, it appears KFC fired the employee as soon as you made them aware of what he did.
At the end of the day, unless you are willing to pay an attorney tens of thousands of dollars to litigate this claim against KFC, I do not see any attorney taking this case on a contingency basis given that your damages are nominal at best. That pretty much ends the discussion right there. Even if you have a provable claim, because your damages are so small, I just don't see anyone taking the case.
Although it is a small token, your refusal to eat at KFC and probably the refusal of your friends who will take offense at how you were treated will amount to a loss of income for KFC that they otherwise would not have had. I know it's not much, but at least by voting with your feet, you can send a strong message.
I'm sorry, this is not what you want to read, but this is how I see it. Best of luck to you!
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