Former Perry’s Server Files Lawsuit, Alleging Religious Discrimination

A former employee of Perry’s Steakhouse in The Woodlands has filed a lawsuit in federal court alleging religious discrimination.

The suit, filed February 2 in Houston’s Southern District of Texas Federal Court, claims that former server Sohail Allaudin encountered “cultural insensitivity” and outright Islamophobia during his employment at the restaurant. According to the suit, Allaudin was required to participate in a wine tasting, even though he is Muslim and abstains from alcohol.

A few weeks into his employment in July 2016, Allaudin also alleges that a fellow server began mocking his accent. That server, Reid Goodwin, is named in the suit; he allegedly implied that Allaudin was a “terrorist” because of his religion and made “jokes about Asians who work in convenience stores.” Allaudin says that he reported the behavior to the restaurant’s human resources department, and the only consequence was that Goodwin was not allowed to work for three days.

Upon his return, Allaudin alleged that Goodwin told him that the disciplinary action against him had been reduced by a restaurant manager because “white people stick together.” After that incident, Allaudin complained to the manager that Goodwin referenced, who allegedly told him he was “giving her headaches” by complaining and to take an extra day off. When he returned to work three days later, Allaudin says that he was fired for “upselling.”

The lawsuit claims that Perry’s “fabricated a number of customer complaints and write-ups that never really happened” in the days after the incident with Goodwin. Allaudin says that he was never warned about “upselling” in the restaurant. “Not only did this “warning” never occur, but in fact the July 8 date appears to coincide with Mr. Allaudin’s complaint against Mr. Goodwin,” the suit reads. “This clumsy attempt at a cover-up is an implicit admission that Mr. Allaudin’s termination was discriminatory and retaliatory.”

Allaudin is seeking back pay, punitive damages, and court costs. A pre-trial date has been set for March 21.

• Ex-Perry’s server brings suit against restaurant, alleges defendant fired him because of religion [Southeast Texas Register]