Roommates, just a few days ago, 16-year-old Amira Donahue was put in a very uncomfortable situation, when a white customer demanded that they had a non-black server at an Olive Garden location. Now Amira has lawyered up, and will no longer be an employee at the restaurant.
According to Essence, Amira intends to quit her job at the Indiana location, citing the restaurant becoming a hostile work environment. Apparently, Amira overheard some of her coworkers retaliating against her, after speaking out about the discrimination she faced at the hand of a customer.
In a Facebook post, local Indiana law firm Danks and Danks, says Amira made the decision to resign from her position as a hostess after she allegedly overheard a coworker say, “Black people will do anything for money,” and “I don’t like her.”
The firm continues saying: “We stand with Amira and fully support her decision. She has been strong in facing adversity and brave for exposing it. We will continue the fight for Amira and hold Olive Garden responsible for its treatment of employees.”
Despite the backlash that Amira has experienced, she says it’s important to keep telling her story, and to stand by her decision to no longe work for the company. She adds that she wants to work to change the culture of her community as it relates to discrimination.
“I just wish Evansville would really do better. That’s all I can say,” she said.
As we previously reported, the white customer that Amira encountered made various remarks about her and the other black hostess working at the time. Apparently, she made comments about the ladies, even saying they should work at a strip club instead of the restaurant.
“She made comments about me to my co-workers concerning my race and saying that I should work at a strip club instead,” Amira told NBA news. “She asked if I’m even black and if I am from here.”
As of now, Amira’s law firm has not yet filed a lawsuit, but say her attorney’s are “monitoring the situation,” and “plan to file soon.”
