A Black woman's employment discrimination lawsuit against an LSU sorority has been tossed out of federal court after a judge ruled the sorority was not the plaintiff's employer when she worked as the house's head chef.聽
Bernadine Williams lodged a civil complaint last April against Delta Zeta's national chapter and its housing corporation. She claimed her White supervisor created a hostile work environment and ultimately got her removed from the sorority house on LSU's campus after Williams聽reported inappropriate racial comments.
In her lawsuit, Williams alleged Suzette Say began questioning her recipes almost immediately after she took over as food coordinator in October 2021. During a chapter meeting about a month later, Say told hundreds of sorority members she would "prefer if we had a White chef," the suit alleged.聽
Say and Delta Zeta denied the allegations of discrimination, harassment and retaliation in court filings.
Williams was suing for damages because she indicated Say drastically increased her workload, and she was later demoted to a lower-paying position after she told聽Delta Zeta鈥檚 chapter president about Say's actions. In a ruling last month,聽U.S. District Judge John deGravelles聽determined neither Say nor Delta Zeta were the plaintiff's employer, either directly or jointly through a third party.聽
Williams was hired in August 2020 by College Fresh, a food service company that matches fraternity and sorority houses nationwide with professional cooks.聽She was a chef for more than a year at Delta Zeta's bungalow at 4060 W. Lakeshore Drive and said she received rave reviews before Say arrived.
Williams' lawsuit also named College Fresh, but deGravelles tossed those claims in his March 26 order granting the defendants' motions for dismissal. The judge ruled that the lawsuit was untimely, filed after the deadline for Title VII civil rights claims. Plaintiffs have a 90-day window to take legal action after they receive a "right-to-sue" letter from the U.S.聽Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. DeGravelles said Williams missed that cutoff by at least two days when she filed suit in April 2023.
The judge also determined employment discrimination claims do not apply to private companies like College Fresh, and said Williams failed to show the sorority officials were operating as "state actors" when she worked there.
"Even construing the facts in a light most favorable to the plaintiff, the court finds that plaintiff has not alleged sufficient facts to survive a 鈥 motion to dismiss," deGravelles wrote. "For these reasons, plaintiff鈥檚 鈥 claim against the defendants is dismissed.鈥
College Fresh did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Scott Huffstetler, the lead attorney representing Say and the Delta Zeta sorority, expressed vindication for those defendants. He insisted Say never made the comments that Williams claimed she did.
"Delta Zeta and Suzette Say are pleased that the court has correctly dismissed Bernadine Williams鈥 lawsuit," Huffstetler said in a statement to The Advocate. "As Delta Zeta has maintained throughout this case, the local and national organizations have anti-discrimination and diversity and inclusion initiatives and policies and would never discriminate against anyone based on any protected characteristics, including race or color. In addition, Mrs. Say adamantly denies the malicious and false allegations levied against her by Ms. Williams."
Williams was a certified dietitian who had spent 15 years working as an executive chef. In her lawsuit, she said Delta Zeta officials took no disciplinary action against Say after she filed a grievance on her with sorority President Michelle Sorrells. When Say learned of the complaint, she targeted Williams and eventually told College Fresh she no longer wanted the chef in the house because 鈥渨orking with Williams is like walking on egg shells,鈥 the lawsuit alleged.
College Fresh transferred Williams in December 2021 and bumped her from house chef to a round chef position with lower pay and fewer hours.
Williams argued that Delta Zeta was her 鈥渏oint employer鈥 because Say, as her supervisor, set Williams鈥 hours and had authority to determine when, where and how she worked. DeGravelles, however, ruled that College Fresh paid Williams鈥 salary and made the decisions to hire, transfer and demote her.
DeGravelles gave Williams until Tuesday fix the "deficiencies" he cited in her complaint. Federal court records showed no indications she had amended the lawsuit by Wednesday.
"Due to attorney-client privilege I am not able to discuss this matter and therefore, I will not speak on it again to the media," plaintiff attorney Jim Holt said in an email Wednesday.
