Newspapers / Winston-Salem Chronicle (Winston-Salem, N.C.) / April 5, 2001, edition 1 / Page 2
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Annual employment fair scheduled for next week BY T. KEVIN WALKER THE CHRONICLE The job fair of job fairs will be up and running again soon, bring ing dozens of employers together under one roof with thousands of local job-seekers. The 2001 Employment Fair will be held at the Joel Coliseum Annex April 12. The event will stretch out for eight hours in order to give those who have jobs already a chance to pursue or merely inquire about other oppor tunities. On-site child care will also be offered so that parents can network without interference from their young ones. Spanish and sign language interpreters will be available as well. The additional services are something that organizers are proud of. Shannon Boyd, a city employee based out of the Work force Development Office and coordinator for the job fair, said many barriers that would keep residents away have been dis cussed thoroughly among orga nizers and in many cases have been knocked down. "We want to knock down all the reasons why people give lor not looking for employment....We didn't want to leave people with any excuses for not coming," he said. The job fair is primarily spon sored by the city of Winston Salem and GMAC Insurance. The city became involved about three years, in a move to consolidate the many smaller job fairs that existed at that time. Many of the agencies and companies that already part ner with the city's Workforce Development agency will be on hand looking for employees at the fair. But hundreds of others have been invited to participate as well through a mass mailing. "We are getting new (employ ers) signing on every day," Boyd said. More than 100 employers are expected and thousands of job seekers usually show up. Some come because friends or relatives have had success in the past. "We have someone who works in our (human resources) depart ment that was hired through the job fair," said Nigel Alston, manger employee/community relations at GMAC. "There have been a lot of matches made at the fair." Boyd said post-fair question naires show that hundreds have received jobs through the fair. A series of seminars on job related topics will be conducted every half-hour during the fair. The seminars, according to Alston, will provide job seekers with information on preparing resumes and on how to dress for interviews. Employers will be looking for both blue and white collar work ers at the event, Boyd said. The Employment Fair will he held April 12 from II) a.m. until 6 p.m at the LJVM Coliseum Annex in Winston-Salem. 2(H) 1 Employment Fair Seminar Schedule See Jobs on A4 Waffle House faces $275 million discrimination lawsuit BY JASON STRAIT THE ASSOCIATED PRESS CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. Black customers who say they were refused service at a Tullahoma Waffle House and captured the incident on videotape have filed a $275 million discrimination law suit against the restaurant. The four plaintiffs say in their federal court suit they were locked out of the Waffle House by employees who claimed the restau rant was closed for maintenance, although white patrons were clear ly visible inside and continued to be served. Steve Berry of Tullahoma said he videotaped the late-night inci dent after the restaurant refused to serve hint and other black cus tomers the two previous weekends. On the videotape, a Waffle House employee can be seen clos ing the restaurant's front door as Berry and others approach. An ?? ' 'employee then taped a si en to the glass door thai read. "Closed due to Maintenance." "Employees of the Tullahoma Waffle House ... simply locked the doors and pretended to be closed when they saw African-American patrons arrive." according to the lawsuit, which was filed last week in federal court. Employees also lowered the restaurant's blinds, and at one a point a white customer waved as Berry and other black patrons stood outside the restaurant. The incident occurred at 2:30 a.m. on Feb. 17. a Sunday. Maurice Shaw, another plain tiff in the lawsuit, told the Tulla homa News that the restaurant did not close for maintenance as the company has claimed. Shaw did not immediately return a call to,, The Associated Press. "If you're closed for mainte nance. you send everybody out. They were still serving people. They hadn't slowed down a lick," he said. Named as defendants in the lawsuit, filed last Friday in Win chester. Tenn.. are WafYle House Inc.; SouthEast Waffles, LLC, which owns the Tullahoma restau rant; and the 10 employees who allegedly refused to serve the group. Charles Yancey, director of human resources at SouthEast, said the restaurant shut down because the crowd had become unmanageable not because it was black. He said the Waffle House has a history of violence on Friday and Saturday nights and that it was not unusual for the restaurant to close as a matter of public safety. "There had been previous instances of fights within the Waf fle House at 3 o'clock. Those inci dents are what made the employees feel we should close," he said. In June, 13 people were arrest ed in a brawl at the Waffle House that lasted for up to two hours, police said. The fight occurred at about the same time, around 3 a.m., as the February incident. However, none of the four plaintiffs listed in the lawsuit was among those arrested in June. Additional plaintitTs include Mario Braston and Carla Chil dress, both of Tullahoma. The lawsuit also claims that emplpyees at the Waffle House have a history of "making racial slurs and of referring to African American patrons in disparaging and derogatory ways." In one incident, according to the lawsuit, a black customer who had called in a carryout order overheard a Waffle House worker say, "It's one of them wanting a to go order. What should I tell her?"' Waffle House, based in Nor cross, Ga., has been named in at least four other racial discrimina tion lawsuits in the past few years, including incidents in Georgia, Alabama and South Carolina. It recently settled a discrimina tion lawsuit in Kentucky where three people from Illinois claimed workers at a Waffle House violated their civil rights by harassing, intimidating and refusing to serve them because they are black. The company settled out of court for $4.5 million. Chris Jacobsen, spokesman for Waffle House, said he could not comment specifically on the Tulla homa case, but issued a statement saying Waffle House "does not tol erate discrimination of any kind." WFU hosts Nobel Prize winner Author Walcott to speak, sign books SPECIAL TO THE CHRONICLE Nobel Prize-winning author Derek Walcott will offer a writing workshop, book-signing and talk April 10 at Wake Forest University. The events are free and open to the public. Walcott is a poet, play wright, painter and literary critic. He has written 17 poet ry collections, 12 plays and numerous articles on literary criticism. In 1992. he won the Nobel Prize for Literature for his poetry. He also co-wrote the 1998 Broadway show "The Capeman" with Paul Simon. He was born in 1930 in Castries, St. Lucia, in the Caribbean. Walcott's poetry reflects the diverse heritage of the Caribbean, which has been a melting pot of races, cultures, languages and histo ries since the 1500s. He is a product of that mix. having two white grandfathers and two black grandmothers. The Wake Forest English Department will sponsor Walcott's poetry-writing workshop from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. in Tribble Hall. Room C 3. Walcott will review work submitted in advance by par ticipants. Space is limited and will be given on a first-come, first-served basis. Call Jane Mead at (336) 758-5382 to pre-register. Walcott will sign copies of his books at the College Book Store from 3-4 p.m. Copies of "Collected Poems" and "Omeros," his newest poetry collection, will be on sale. Walcott will also read his poetry in a program spon sored by the Wake Forest History Department at 7 p.m. in Benson University Center's Pugh Auditorium. NOTICE OF AN OPEN-HOUSE PUBLIC MEETING FOR THE PROPOSED CLOSURE OF THE STONEY POINT ROAD(SR 19X0, SOUTHERN LOOP) RAILROAD CROSSING Project 9.908500P Crossing #470 200E Forsyth County The North Carolina Department of Transportation will hold the above open house public meeting on April 19, 2001 for the proposed closure of the southern loop of Stoney Point Road at the Norfolk Southern railroad. An Open House Public Meeting will be held between the hours of 4:30 PM and 7:00 PM at the Auditorium of Walkertown Middle School located at 3175 Ruxton Drive in Walkertown. Interested individuals may attend this meeting at their convenience between the above stated hours. NCDOT Division of Highways and Rail Division personnel will be available to provide information, answer questions and take comments regarding this closure. NO FORMAL PRESENTATION WILL BE MADE. The proposed action would close the southern Stoney Point Road (SR 1980) crossing - NCDOT #470 200E - of the Norfolk Southern Railroad and create a landscaped turnaround. Eight freight trains per day currently use this route, each traveling approximately 35 miles per hour. This unsignalized crossing currently provides access to US 311 from Stoney Point Road (SR 1980). Traffic will be able to access US 311 using the northern Stoney Point Road crossing 0.33 miles north of the southern Stoney Point Road crossing. This crossing closure will prevent a dangerous situation of a curve that will be created by the realignment of the rail road when the construction work is completed that realigns US 311 where it crosses over the railroad. This crossing closure is part of an effort to reduce the number of redundant and/or unsafe rail/highway at-grade crossings nationwide. Additional informa tion on rail crossing safety can be found at "the NCDOT Rail Division's Website - www.bytrain.org. Anyone desiring more information about the public meeting may contact M& Ann Steedly, NCDOT Public Involvement, MSC 1583, Raleigh, NC 27699-1583; by phone at (919) 250-4092; by email at asteedly@dot.state.nc.us; or by Fax at (919)250-4208. Anyone desiring more information or who would like to comment about the pro-, posed closure may contact Ms. Nancy Home, NCDOT Rail Division, MSC 1556. Raleigh, NC 27699-1556; by phone at (919) 715-3686; or email at nhorne@dot.statenc.us; or by FAX at (919) 715-8804. NCDOT - in compliance with the American s With Disabilities Act - will provide auxiliary aids and services for disabled citizens who wish to participate in the hearing. To receive special services, please contact Ms. Steedly one week prior to! the hearing. The Chronicle: March 29; April 5. 12. 2001 File Photos The job fair will offer blue-collar and white-collar job seekers opportunities. Walcott The Chronicle (USPS 067-910) was established by Ernest H. Pitt and Ndubisi Egemeye in 1974 and is pub lished every Thursday by Winston-Salem Chronicle Pub lishing Co., Inc., 617 N. Liberty St., Winston-Salem, NC 27101. Periodicals Postage paid at Winston-Salem, N.C. Annual subscription price is $30.72. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to: The Chronicle, PO Box 1636 Winston-Salem, NC 27102-1636 INDEX OPINION A6 SPORTS B1 RELIGION B4 CLASSIFIEDS B9 HEALTH __C3 ENTERTAINMENT C7 CALENDAR ~~C9 Quotablea: "A government which uses force to maintain its rule teaches the oppressed to use force to oppose it." - Nelson Mandela THE CHRONICLE The Choice for African American News and Information 617 North Liberty Street, Winston-Salem. NC 27102 Facsimile: (910) 723-9173 iT^^I *nI yA|i H F*^l I From 1-40, take Hwy. 52 south, take Stadium Dr. and left at top of ramp, take right^^P|HPPI^? onto M. L. King Jr. Dr., take left onto Reynolds Pk. RdT" after passing the recreation center, take immediate right onto paved street and proceed to enter fenced-in area.
Winston-Salem Chronicle (Winston-Salem, N.C.)
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