Ten former Sweetgreen employees have filed a lawsuit accusing the salad chain of racial discrimination and bias in several New York City restaurants. According to NBC, the case includes the corporation itself, store managers, and specifically calls out Donald Izquierdo from the restaurant at 55th Street and Park Avenue, and Edwin Ventura, who worked at the 67 Wall Street location from 2019 to 2021. All ten of the employees self-identified as African American. They alleged that Izquierdo created “a discriminatory and hostile work environment” based on race and gender. The plaintiffs asserted that their co-workers and managers used the N-word and other racist comments daily and claimed that they inappropriately touched and made sexual comments toward female workers. The lawsuit also states that managers did not hire or give promotions to Black employees and showed favoritism toward Hispanic workers. The complaint adds that the company’s human resources department did nothing for years about the abuse. Under New York City law, companies are responsible for their higher-ups’ discriminatory behavior.
Read it at NBC News
