Responding to Allegations of Racism

The 1990 s have witnessed an increased emphasis on valuing diversity. With both the marketplace and the workforce becoming more and more diverse, many managers have redesigned their companies cultures to reflect and encourage multiculturalism. Changing a company's culture, however, is often more difficult than managers might first believe. At Denny"s for example, promoting multiculturalism required a reworking of its corporate culture from top to bottom.

In the early 1990s, Denny's found itself the target of numerous allegations of racism, by both customers and employees. Black customers asserted that they were not receiving the same treatment at Denny's as white customers. Some complained that they were either forced to wait for their food longer than white customers or denied service entirely, others said that they were forced to pre-pay for their meals while white customers in the restaurant were not. There were also allegations that Denny's restaurants would close if there were too many black customers. In addition, Denny's was accused of discriminatory hiring practices as well as preventing blacks and other minorities from reaching management and franchise positions. None of this garnered much attention, however, until a suit was filed on March 24, 1993, by a group of minority customers in San Jose, California, who made the all