Fired After Ousting Islam Basher At Middletown Applebee's: Suit

MIDDLETOWN, NJ — An Eatontown young woman said she was fired from her job as a supervisor at the Middletown Applebee's after she asked a customer to leave for making remarks critical of Muslims and Islam.

That Applebee's is owned by Doherty Enterprises, a well-known restaurant and franchisee owner in Central New Jersey. Doherty's said her account of events is untrue, and she is no longer working there because she did not show up to work.

Amanda Breaud, 25, is now suing Doherty, demanding her job back, plus back pay and punitive damages. Her lawsuit was filed last week in Monmouth County Superior Court by Red Bank-based law firm McOmber & McOmber. She is represented by Christian McOmber.

Breaud said she was first promoted to the position of supervisor at the Applebee's in Tinton Falls. On January 1 of 2019, she was transferred to the Middletown location. Doherty owns both Applebee's.

On May 13 of last year, she said a customer sitting at the bar began making racist comments about Muslims, remarking to the bartender “Muslim people are disgusting,” “most of them are terrorists,” and “if it were up to me, none of those mothf****rs would be allowed in this country.”

Breaud said a customer approached the man and told him she considered Applebee’s a family restaurant and that such language and racist comments should not be tolerated. The customer advised that she would call the police if nothing was done to stop his remarks. The customer also told her that the bartender had said nothing to stop the man, and had instead openly agreed with several of his racist comments, Breaud said.

As Breaud said she walked to the bar area to address the emerging situation, two other families directly complained to her about the offensive conversation and pleaded with her to do something to end it.

Breaud said she quietly confronted the man, and asked him to leave the restaurant "because of his unacceptable conduct." He became irate and yelled at her, but ultimately left.

After he left, she said several customers applauded her for her actions and told her that they appreciated her "for doing the right thing," according the her lawsuit. One customer even left the following note, pictured above, on their receipt, which reads: “To the Manager – Thank you for standing up to hate + Rascism [sic]. Thank you for your service.”

However, Breaud said her fellow Applebee's workers did not thank her and were instead hostile to her for the remainder of their shift. She also said the bartender loudly complained in front of other customers that Breaud's actions had cost her tips from a regular customer.

That night, Breaud said she was shocked to receive a call from the restaurant's manager, who berated her and strongly criticized her for asking the man to leave. She said the manager told her she should have instead asked the customers offended by the man to move to another area away from the bar. He also told her, in no uncertain terms, that she had no authority to tell customers at the bar to refrain from “discussing religion.”

Breaud said that call from her manager "alarmed her."

"Imagine if the guests had pulled out their cell phones and recorded me telling them if they were ‘so offended’ they could move. That is not the message I want to send my guests," she said in her suit.

The next day, Breaud said she complained in writing to the restaurant’s Human Resources via their HR software. In the complaint, she said she explained that she wanted Applebee’s guests to feel safe and that Applebee’s, as a matter of policy, should ensure that customers do not find themselves subject to discriminatory hate speech.

She said Applebee's did not respond to her written complaints and failed to investigate her claim.

Several days later, she told the Applebee’s area director that she could no longer work at the Middletown location "because of their failure to address the pervasive atmosphere of discrimination and hostility — and the fact that she had been subjected to retaliation on account of her actions," according to the suit. She asked to be transferred back to the Tinton Falls location.

(Prior to this, when Breaud said when she first started working at the Middletown Applebee's, she said she was "exposed to a hostile work environment where racism and bigotry were commonplace," according to her lawsuit. She said her supervisor (unnamed) routinely directed racist and discriminatory language toward employees. For example, when an African-American employee’s uncle passed away, he said, “well, that is one less black guy we have to worry about," she said. On another occasion, she also said he called an employee “a f— retard” in front of other staff members.)

Her transfer request was denied and she was instead offered a schedule where she would have to work three days in the Middletown location. Breaud said "unable to tolerate even a single day more in the hostile work environment at the Middletown location, she refused this change in schedule."

On May 20 she was fired.

“We take these accusations very seriously. We can confirm that these allegations are not true," said Ed Doherty, the CEO of Doherty Enterprises and owner of both the Tinton Falls and Middletown Applebee’s franchises. "The team member failed to come to work and the separation had nothing to do with the alleged guest interaction."

"As a company, we also take proactive measures with franchisees and company team members to make trainings available to ensure that Applebee’s restaurants are a place where all feel welcome and respected," said Susan Nelson, Applebee's corporate vice president of communications.