Whataburger employee at Uvalde restaurant alleges discrimination because she is White
A Whataburger employee who works in Uvalde alleges in a lawsuit that she was discriminated against because is white. Shown is the Whataburger on South Zarzamora Street in San Antonio. (Mike Sutter/San Antonio Express-News)
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A Whataburger employee says she was targeted by racist harassment and denied work hours and advancement opportunities at the company’s Uvalde restaurant because she is white.
Kayce McManis has sued San Antonio-based Whataburger Restaurants LLC, alleging racial discrimination, a hostile work environment, and retaliation under federal law. She seeks between $250,000 and $1 million, plus attorneys’ fees and punitive damages.
McManis says Whataburger hired her as a team leader in 2017 at a Temple restaurant, and she left in 2019. The company rehired her in March 2023 at its Uvalde location, where she still works, according to the lawsuit. She alleges that after a new general manager took over, her hours were cut and she was denied a raise and cross-training. She also says a manager repeatedly yelled at her or sent her home during shifts.
The petition cites a member of the management team as saying, “if you are white, you don’t last long,” and a colleague as saying, “they are racist around here.”
McManis also says a former manager told her, “the reason they (Whataburger) won’t give you hours is that you are White.”
McManis alleges she complained to Whataburger’s human resources department but received little or no follow-up. She says that managers threatened her with retaliation if she filed formal complaints.
She filed a charge of discrimination with the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which prohibits racial discrimination. On Aug. 10, the agency issued her a notice of right to sue, allowing her to pursue the case in court, the lawsuit says.
The suit was filed Monday in state District Court in San Antonio. Dallas attorneys Joshua Bock and Kevin Moran, who represent McManis, didn’t respond to an email seeking comment.
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