‘Shut Up, Ape, Before I Put You In a Cage!’: Black Chick-fil-A Worker In Idaho Filed 30 Complaints But Was Forced to Endure the Racist Abuse Because Harassers ‘Couldn’t Be Fired,’ Lawsuit Claims
A Black man who worked as a cook at a Chick-fil-A restaurant in Idaho filed a federal employment discrimination lawsuit claiming his co-workers subjected him to relentless racial harassment, including calling him an “ape” and “ni—er” and comparing him to a slave.
According to his complaint obtained by Atlanta Black Star, shortly after Thomas Wade started working as a cook at the Chick-Fil-A franchise in Ammon, a suburb of Idaho Falls, in December 2022, he applied for the company’s leadership development program but was passed over for a white male employee.
Wade was assigned to the “back of house crew” at the restaurant, where several members of the Ibarra family worked, including Eric Ibarra, his supervisor.
In March of 2023, Wade says he “intervened” when Isaiah Ibarra, Eric’s son, and another employee were antagonizing a third co-worker.
“Shut up, ape, before I put you in a cage,” Isaiah Ibarra allegedly said to Wade.
When Wade said he would report the conduct to management, Isaiah allegedly called him a “monkey-looking ass” and warned him that “my parents own this store.”
Wade complained about the racial slurs and intimidation to Eric Ibarra, who “did nothing,” the lawsuit says. Nor did Back of House Director Kaeli Barnes or General Manager Jessica Lainhart, who Wade says apologized but did not discipline either Isaiah Ibarra for his racist comments or his father for failing to discipline his son and failing to bring the matter to the attention of management.
Wade took two days off “to give himself some space,” the lawsuit says, and when he returned to work, he claims several members of the Ibarra family chimed in with more racist comments, which only worsened over the next seven months.
Isaiah Ibarra, his brother Noel Ibarra and other co-workers called Wade “ape,” “monkey,” “n-word,” and “antique farming equipment” in reference to slavery, the complaint says. They also told him they would put him in a cage.
“Of course he works at Chick-Fil-A; he’s Black, so he loves chicken,” one Ibarra brother allegedly said to the other in Wade’s presence.
On another occasion, Wade says he walked in on Noah Ibarra whipping co-worker Liam Hardy with a towel, when the latter said, “Please master, I’ll work harder,” and “Yes, master.” Hardy then said Wade “would know about getting whipped, since he is Black,“ the lawsuit says.
Between March and October 2023, Wade says he made between 25 and 30 reports to either Lainhart or Barnes about the racist comments co-workers made to him or in his presence.
That included one day in June 2023 when Sativa Cortez, one of Eric Ibarra’s daughters, taunted him by saying, “look like a monkey, act like a monkey” while he was waiting outside his supervisors’ office for a meeting to discuss the ongoing harassment. Wade says he told Lainhart and Barnes about the racist slurs coming from the Ibarra siblings, including the latest from Cortez, and pointed out that “management’s inaction embolden the entire Ibarra family” to continue harassing him.
Lainhart said she would speak with them, “but nothing changed,” the lawsuit says.
On July 24, 2023, Noah Ibarra and co-worker Joshua Ramirez called Wade over to see what they had written on a freezer, the complaint says. On it, Wade says he read, “dani g german.” He didn’t get it at the time, but later Ramirez explained that separating “da” and “man” from the middle letters reveals an obvious slur, which Wade reported to Barnes that night.
Barnes appeared annoyed and told Wade that if he wanted to be a shift lead, “he needed to get along with the Ibarra family “because several of them were already in leadership positions and she couldn’t fire them,” the complaint alleges.
Wade claims he also told Barnes that Noah Ibarra consistently called him, “blackie,” “n-word,” and “monkey,” but that he never heard from her or Lainhart about any action taken about it.
Other employee misconduct also went unpunished, Wade alleges. In late July 2023, Noah Ibarra was suspended for sexually harassing a co-worker, and after returning, he “continued to act out and was fired as a result,” the lawsuit says. A month later he was re-hired.
In August of 2023, Wade reported to his shift leads, Eric Ibarra and his wife Veronica Ibarra, that their daughter, Sativa, had just called him “back of house monkey.” They allegedly told Wade they could do nothing because Sativa was a supervisor.
That same month, Lainhart allegedly asked Wade “why he would want to work in a place where he was being harassed all the time.”
On October 14, 2023, Wade says he complained again to Barnes about the racist slurs and harassment and told her she needed to do something about it. Instead of addressing the misconduct, Barnes told Wade “she wasn’t scared of him,” he claims.
Two days later, Barnes and Lainhart fired Wade.
In May 2024, Wade dually filed a charge of discrimination with the Idaho Human Rights Commission and the Equal Opportunity Employment Commission (EEOC), both of which found merit in his claims that illegal discrimination and retaliation had occurred, the lawsuit says.
In February 2025, the EEOC issued a Notice of Right To Sue, and on March 13, Wade filed his lawsuit in U.S. District Court in Idaho against Lauren Mosteller, Inc., the Chick-Fil-A franchise operator. The complaint claims racial discrimination, hostile work environment, retaliation and intentional infliction of emotional distress by the franchisee in violation of federal civil rights law and Idaho human rights law.
Wade claims his supervisors were aware of the racist remarks and conduct of his co-workers but ignored his complaints and failed to make a good faith effort to stop the harassment, failed to discipline employees engaged in racist and hostile behavior, and failed to properly train employees and staff on policies prohibiting racial harassment and discrimination.
He contends that he performed his job satisfactorily “at all times” and that his supervisors and the Chick-Fil-A franchisee terminated him in retaliation for reporting the racial harassment and hostile work environment.
Wade seeks a jury trial to determine general and compensatory damages for loss of earnings and employment benefits, as well as for the emotional distress, humiliation, outrage and shock he has experienced.
The franchisee, Lauren Mosteller, Inc., doing business as Chick-Fil-A, is a Georgia-based company owned by Lauren Mosteller, who is also the restaurant operator in Ammon.
On Tuesday, a Chick-Fil-A company spokesperson told The Independent, which first reported on the lawsuit, “This matter involves a franchisee, not Chick-fil-A, Inc. Franchisees are independent operators responsible for all employment decisions in their restaurants. Chick-fil-A, Inc. is not involved in or aware of their employment matters.”
In their answer to the complaint filed on May 7, Mosteller, Inc. denied all of Wade’s claims of discrimination and misconduct by its employees, calling them “frivolous, unreasonable or groundless.” The company asserted that any injury or damage suffered by Wade was “caused and contributed to by the negligence and fault of Plaintiff or a third party,” and that his allegations of “isolated and sporadic conduct are insufficient to establish a hostile work environment.”
Wade was terminated not in retaliation for reporting racial harassment, Mosteller argued, but due to his “failure to satisfactorily perform his job responsibilities and otherwise conduct himself in accordance with” company polices and standards.
“The franchisee of the Chick-Fil-A at issue is confident that the allegations in this lawsuit are entirely unfounded,” Kelly Rooksby, an attorney representing Mosteller, said in an emailed statement to Atlanta Black Star. “The case remains pending, and we are fully prepared to demonstrate that there was no unlawful conduct. We trust that a jury will reach the same conclusion.”
Ryan Dustin, an attorney representing Wade, told The Independent that his counsel would not comment due to the ongoing litigation.
According to the court-approved case schedule, the filing of motions and discovery by both parties will proceed until July 2026, when a mediation session and settlement conference are scheduled.