Red Lobster Sued After Alleged Racist Receipt (Video)

A former customer at a Tennessee Red Lobster has hit the chain and a waitress with a $1 million lawsuit after he was accused last year of writing the n-word in the tip section of a $44.53 receipt, according to News 2.

Devin Barnes filed the suit accusing waitress Toni Christina Jenkins of slandering his name and misusing his personal information after she posted a copy of the receipt online.

Barnes also filed a suit against Red Lobster for allegedly not stopping Jenkins from using his name and information “to gain publicity and money” therefore causing lasting damage to his reputation.

Jenkins released a picture of the receipt late last year. The photo showed the $44.53 receipt signed by David Barnes; on the tip line the word ‘none’ was written and below that the n-word was spelled out on the total line.

The server made national headlines in September after she posted the photo on Facebook and later on YouTube, claiming that the receipt had been left at a table she was waiting on.

“This is what I got as a tip last night … so happy to live in the proud southern states … God Bless America, land of the free and home of the low class racists of Tennessee,” Jenkins captioned the picture on her Facebook at the time.

Barnes denied writing the word and said he didn’t leave a tip as he had placed a take-out order.

Barnes’ lawyer stated that the incident has caused his client to receive threats from around the world while Jenkins exploited and profited from it.

The occurrence prompted a fundraiser called “Tips for Toni” and Jenkins was given a check for $10,719 last September.

However, Jenkins claimed that her only wish was to draw attention to racism and said that had she known it would garner so much attention, she would have crossed Barnes name off the receipt.

Agencies/Canadajournal