Paula Deen's Cook Recounts Racism, Broken Promises - Report

Credit: New York Times

In an interview with The New York Times, Dora Charles recounts how she and Paula Deen were once "soul sisters" who, for 22 years, worked alongside one another. Charles helped open Lady & Sons, the restaurant in Georgia that made Deen’s career. She also helped develop recipes, train other cooks and make certain that all the dishes were prepared to the proper specifications, with Deen once saying, “If it’s a Southern dish, you better not put it out unless it passes this woman’s tongue.”

However, though Charles and Deen were close as kin during their two-decade partnership, the paychecks never reflected that bond, even after Deen became a star on Food Network. At the height of Deen's fame, Mrs. Charles still made less than $10 an hour. In addition, their past together was fraught with racial insensitivity. Charles said Deen not only used racial slurs, she once told Mrs. Charles to ring a dinner bell in front of the restaurant, hollering for customers to come and get it.

“I said, ‘I’m not ringing no bell,’” said Mrs. Charles. “That’s a symbol to me of what we used to do back in the day.”

However, despite the slights, Mrs. Charles remained. For one, it was good, steady work for a black woman in Savannah with a ninth-grade education; secondly, and perhaps most importantly, Deen promised Mrs. Charles that they would be rich one day -- together. Of course, Paula is now rich, but her empire is quickly falling to pieces amid accusations of racism. Meanwhile, Mrs. Charles has nothing to show for her years of dedication, nursing a bad shoulder while living in a trailer on the outskirts of Savannah.

“It’s just time that everybody knows that Paula Deen don’t treat me the way they think she treat me,” said the 59-year-old Charles.

Their friendship began when Ms. Deen ran a restaurant in a Best Western hotel and hired the newly-divorced Mrs. Charles after she auditioned by preparing her version of Southern food. The women became fast friends: they celebrated their birthdays -- a day apart -- together, in addition to catering parties together to make ends meet.

“If I lost Dora, I would have been devastated,” Deen wrote in her 2007 memoir, “It Ain’t All About the Cooking.”

Mrs. Charles claims that Ms. Deen made her a deal early on in their partnership: “Stick with me, Dora, and I promise you one day if I get rich you’ll get rich.”

Now she wishes she had gotten that promise in writing. “I didn’t think I had to ’cause we were real close back then,” said Charles.

While Charles hasn't filed any claims seeking damages or compensation, Deen's representatives have still taken measures to flat-out deny all of the ex-cook's assertions. “Fundamentally Dora’s complaint is not about race but about money. It is about an employee that despite over 20 years of generosity feels that she still deserves yet even more financial support from Paula Deen.”

In addition, the statement from Deen's publicity team declares that Ms. Deen “provided guidance and support through the many ups and downs of Mrs. Charles’s life.”

In ascertaining the truth of the matter, investigators for Rev. Jesse L. Jackson’s Rainbow PUSH Coalition have looked into the matter, speaking with Mrs. Charles. Further details via The New York Times:

Robert Patillo, a lawyer for the coalition, visited Savannah in June and July to interview Ms. Deen’s restaurant employees, including Mrs. Charles, who still works at the Lady & Sons.

The 20 or so others Mr. Patillo spoke with were divided on the conditions for black and white workers. Some said there was bias against blacks, while others said the Lady & Sons was a terrific place to work.
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The Rainbow PUSH report said, “There was evidence of systemic racial discrimination and harassment at the operations.” But, it went on to say, “there is limited evidence of direct racism or racial discrimination” by Ms. Deen.

Mrs. Charles says she is not expecting any money from Ms. Deen, especially not now.

“I’m not trying to portray that she is a bad person,” she said. “I’m just trying to put my story out there that she didn’t treat me fairly and I was her soul sister.”

Mrs. Charles wasn't completely harsh on Deen, however, as she admitted there were perks and kindnesses. She attended Deen’s wedding, and occasionally appeared on television shows alongside her friend and colleague. In addition, Charles also performed on Ms. Deen’s signature cruises, enjoying valuable vacation time on the all expenses paid getaways. Other perks included clothes and various goods and freebies that came along as Deen became more famous.

Even Mrs. Charles’s family and friends took jobs with Deen, including Ineata Jones, nicknamed "Jellyroll". When Charles refused to ring the dinner bell, Jones ended up ringing the iron dinner bell. An image of Ms. Jones ringing the bell was turned into a postcard sold at Paula Deen stores.

Charles alleges that Ms. Jones was also asked to wear an "old-style Aunt Jemima outfit" while preparing hoecakes in front of patrons.

“Jellyroll didn’t want to hear that,” Mrs. Charles said. “She didn’t want to do that.”

Ms. Deen refuted this in her statement, claiming she never asked anyone to dress like Aunt Jemima, nor did she use racially insensitive terms to refer to any of her black employees.

For her part, Ms. Jones had only positive things to say about Deen, and refused to discuss matters with the New York Times. Ms. Deen also offered a legal document signed by Ms. Jones on July 6 stating she had not been discriminated against, nor had she heard Deen using racial slurs.

However, the legal repercussions did not end there. More, via NYT:

In 2010, Lisa T. Jackson, a white manager working at Uncle Bubba’s Oyster House, the restaurant Ms. Deen set up for her brother, Earl Hiers, known as Bubba, voiced claims of racism and sexual harassment in the Deen empire.

Her complaints form the basis of a federal lawsuit winding through the court system. Ms. Deen’s deposition, in which she admitted to using a racial slur, led to devastating losses in her fortunes as several marketing partners, including four casino restaurants, the Food Network, her book publisher, Walmart and the pharmaceutical company Novo Nordisk, stopped working with her.

Ms. Jackson, in her own deposition, said she had been surprised to hear Ms. Deen use a racial slur, especially because she appeared to love Mrs. Charles.

“It was like, how could — you know, how could she say something like that?” said Ms. Jackson, who now lives in Atlanta.

Ms. Jackson told Mrs. Charles that she was paid less than others who helped run the kitchen and who had not been there as long. Those people were white. Ms. Jackson introduced her to S. Wesley Woolf, the Savannah lawyer who would go on to file the suit.

Mr. Woolf helped Mrs. Charles and three other employees file complaints with the United States Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. The agency will not make public the results of those complaints.

Jamie Deen, the son who now runs the flagship restaurant, reportedly put Mrs. Charles on a salary of about $71,000 a year, along with a bonus and the title of quality control manager. He even said the family would fix up the damaged floor in her mobile home. Mr. Deen insists the decision was in any way connected to the E.E.O.C. complaint. Documents also show Mr. Deen reminded her to continue contributing to the company retirement plan, which Ms. Deen states she set up with Mrs. Charles in mind. Thus, Mrs. Charles went back to work, using her earning to catch up on overdue bills, in addition to helping care for her four grandchildren. As Mrs. Charles states, she did not press matters in court because she didn't want the mess.

“I didn’t have nobody to stand behind me,” she said.

Marcie Ferris, a coordinating professor for the Southern studies program at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, spoke up about the situation. “It’s just such a complex drama,” said Ferris. “It points to the fact that race is at the heart of Southern food and you can’t avoid it.”

However, while Mrs. Charles recognizes that her time with Paula Deen is at an end, and that she will soon leave her kitchen altogether, she states that a relationship will always be there.

“I still have to be her friend if I’m God’s child,” she said. “I might feed her with a long-handled spoon, but, yeah, I’m still her friend.”