Cracker Barrel denies racist treatment

A US restaurant chain is facing a $100m (£69.2m) civil rights claim over alleged racism towards black customers.

The lawsuit, filed by 21 people, accuses Cracker Barrel restaurants of widespread racism.

The company is accused of segregating black customers to the smoking sections at the back of its restaurants, denying them service, and making them wait more than an hour for service.

David Sanford, a lawyer at Gordon Silberman Wiggins and Childs, which is representing the plaintiffs, claimed that there were more than 300 witnesses to the discrimination, most of whom were white.

But Cracker Barrel, which owns and operates a chain of 450 "country cooking" restaurants in 37 states across the USA, has strongly denied the allegations. Donald Turner, president and chief executive, said: "Cracker Barrel treats its customers with dignity and respect. These baseless allegations are unfair to the thousands of Cracker Barrel employees who work hard to give our guests value and courteous treatment."

He added: "For a company that serves millions of people each year, we get very few comments that in any way touch on racial issues. When we do, we investigate fully. If something went wrong, we fix it."