Denny’s Donates To Civil Rights Groups

Seeking to make amends for racial discrimination, Denny’s is giving more than $1.5 million to civil rights groups and the United Negro College Fund. The restaurant chain also announced a policy of “zero tolerance for discrimination.”

“We are an entirely different company,” said James B. Adamson, chairman and CEO of Flagstar Companies Inc., parent company of Denny’s. “We are still the butt of some jokes, but we are saying people should give us a second chance.”

Adamson was joined at a Wednesday news conference by representatives of nine civil rights groups, each of which received a check for $100,000. The United Negro College Fund will receive an additional $625,000 today at a news conference in San Francisco.

The payments are part of a 1994 settlement of two class-action discrimination suits against the company.