By Chris Hoenig
A large part of the lawsuit that led to Paula Deen’s business empire collapsing has been thrown out by a judge, who ruled that the white employee could not sue Deen over racial discrimination against Black coworkers.
U.S. District Court Judge William T. Moore Jr. said that Lisa Jackson, a white woman who worked for Deen and her brother, Bubba Hiers, at two of their Savannah, Ga., restaurants for five years, was not directly injured by the racist comments. Moore allowed sexual harassment proceedings to continue. “At best, plaintiff is an accidental victim of the alleged racial discrimination,” Moore wrote in a 20-page opinion dismissing the suit. “There are no allegations that defendant Hiers’ racially offensive comments were either directed toward plaintiff or made with the intent to harass her.”
