The racial discrimination allegations against Paula Deen and her brother have been dismissed.  The claims which remain include sexual discrimination claims.  I previously wrote about the lawsuit against Ms. Deen here.  Apparently, the plaintiff in the lawsuit is a white female, who alleged she was offended by discrimination against black workers.  The judge noted there was no evidence that Bubba Hiers’ (Ms. Deen’s brother) offensive comments were directed toward Lisa Jackson or were intended to harass her.  See NPR news report.  So, the Judge dismissed those racial discrimination allegations. 

That reasoning makes some sense.  Yes, a white worker is entitled to freedom from discrimination toward minority co-workers.  But, unless a white worker has complained about discrimination against minorities and then suffered some retaliation, there is no claim.  Unless Ms. Jackson complained about discrimination against some minority person and then suffered some reprisal, she has no claim against the restaurant.  

The news report also explains that the restaurant was primarily run by Bubba Hiers.  So, any discrimination on Ms. Deen’s part would probably not have been admissible anyway.  

In the life’s-not-fair category, the allegations against Paula Deen received top of the page attention.  While, the news that the racial discrimination claim has been dismissed rendering Ms. Deen’s alleged prejudice irrelevant has received little attention.