Aug 23 (Reuters) – A federal judge on Friday dismissed the
final component of a racial discrimination and sexual harassment
case against celebrity chef Paula Deen that has cost the
Southern culinary star a big chunk of her multimillion-dollar
enterprise.
In dismissing the sexual harassment aspect of the case, U.S.
District Judge William Moore wrote that no awards or fees were
awarded to either party, according to court documents. Moore’s
dismissal did not address the substance of the case.
The lawsuit against Deen and her brother, Bubba Hiers, was
brought by Lisa Jackson, a five-year employee of Uncle Bubba’s
Seafood and Oyster House, a restaurant owned by the siblings in
Savannah, Georgia.
Jackson claimed she had been the victim of sexual
harassment. Jackson, who is white, also alleged there was a
pattern of racial discrimination against black employees at the
restaurant.
Earlier this month, Moore dismissed the racial
discrimination allegations because any racially offensive
remarks were not directed at Jackson or intended to harass
Jackson.
Deen, 66, admitted in a deposition in the case that she had
used the “N-word,” an admission that prompted Scripps Networks
Interactive Inc to drop her cooking show from its cable
television channel, the Food Network.
Other companies, including Smithfield Foods, pharmaceutical
company Novo Nordisk and retailers Wal-Mart, Home Depot and
Target, also rushed to cut their ties with Deen, dropping her as
a celebrity endorser and announcing they would no longer carry
the cookbooks, housewares and other products that helped Deen
build a multimillion-dollar enterprise.
(Reporting By Edith Honan; Editing by Paul Thomasch and Bill
Trott)
