November 30, 2025
The women were told there were electrical issues and couldn’t be served, yet, there were white customers enjoying their meals.
After five Black women were told that the Denny’s that they stopped in was having electrical issues and couldn’t be served, they are suing the Pennsylvania restaurant for racial discrimination after realizing that the restaurant was not only serving patrons, but all of them were white.
According to The New York Daily News, the five Black women, Daniella Bonhomme, Tatiana Poulard, Aminique Kirnon, Selina Sacasa, and Quantavia Grant, claimed they experienced racism at the Denny’s on Jan. 14, 2024. As the women were making their way into Denny’s in Bloomsburg, they stated they were approached by a staff member who informed them the restaurant was closed because “the lights are flickering.” Yet, when the women used the restrooms, they observed that there were no electrical issues and that customers were enjoying their meals.
However, they also noticed that all of the patrons were white. Realizing the alleged blatant racism at hand, one of the women recorded the scene. As they walked towards the bathrooms, she narrated what was going on and even took time to show the people in the restaurant before showing the white woman who lied to them when they came into the venue.
@aimeemichelle_mimi Nah, yall really tried it @dennysdiner. Imagine Denny’s diner chain making ads that claims to be America’s Diner – their chief marketing officer Frances Allen said “There’s a soul to a diner that is very authentic, very warm, very accepting.” Clearly, that’s not the case 9… the hostess/waitress ran to the door, to deny us service due to a power outage.
The paperwork was recently filed in the United States District Court, Middle District of Pennsylvania. In the lawsuit, the women alleged that they “were humiliatingly denied seating and service at the Denny’s in Bloomsburg, Pennsylvania, simply because of the color of their skin. “Clearly, the alleged ‘flickering’ lights were nothing more than a pretext for blatant racial discrimination.”
Kyle Platt, who is representing the women, stated, “This is something that was incredibly blatant and obvious to anyone who could have seen it. They entered the restaurant and were immediately basically ushered away, while all the white patrons were able to eat without issue.”
“Our clients were deeply hurt by what happened that day,” Carranza told the media outlet. “There was no reason for any employee to rush to them before they even entered the premises.”
To make matters worse, Denny’s corporate vice president Chioke Elmore, who is also Black, attempted to “placate and persuade” Kirnon by telling her, “I look like you, and I wouldn’t want to work here if they didn’t want people like us to eat here,” according to the complaint.
Over the years, Denny’s was known for its discrimination against Black people. The restaurant chain settled a class-action lawsuit in 1994 for $54 million after numerous allegations of the practice. Black customers were typically treated differently from their white counterparts.
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