The Tennessee-headquartered restaurant and retail chain Cracker Barrel has been accused of violating the Tennessee Human Rights Act and Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 with its Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) policies.
America First Legal (AFL) filed a complaint with the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) last week, claiming Cracker Barrel’s DEI policies discriminate against certain applicants and employees based on race and sex, which is unlawful under the Civil Rights Act.
/1🚨CRACKER BARREL SERVING UP ILLEGAL DISCRIMINATION —
AFL just filed civil rights complaints calling for federal and state investigations into Cracker Barrel for unlawful discrimination based on race and sex in hiring and employment. pic.twitter.com/21wHowKuRe
— America First Legal (@America1stLegal) July 22, 2025
According to AFL, Cracker Barrel’s public statements and corporate governance documents indicate that race, gender, and ethnicity are actively being considered in hiring, board appointments, and leadership development programs within the company.
While Cracker Barrel reportedly rebranded its DEI website in 2024 from “Diversity and Inclusion” to “Culture and Inclusion,” AFL stressed that the company continues to promote unlawful commitments to provide unique employment benefits to certain races and sexes.
AFL pointed specifically to Cracker Barrel’s 2024 ESG report tracking workforce demographics by race and gender, which shows that the company retained a more “diverse” workforce from Fiscal Year (FY) 2022 to FY 2024 across its professional staff, store-level management, and hourly staff.
Further, AFL claims Cracker Barrel’s Business Resource Groups provide career benefits tied to race or sex, arguing that while any employee may join, key opportunities appear limited to specific identity groups.
“Cracker Barrel repeatedly admits that considerations of race, color, national origin, and sex play a motivating factor in the Company’s employment practices. Yet these considerations, purportedly embedded in its culture and day-to-day operations, are patently illegal. Cracker Barrel’s policies openly discriminate against heterosexual, white, and male employees in favor of diverse employees,” AFL wrote in its EEOC complaint against the company.
AFL is asking the EEOC to issue a Commissioner Charge to investigate Cracker Barrel’s allegedly discriminatory practices and take action to ensure the company ceases such policies.
In addition to filing a complaint with the EEOC, AFL also sent a letter to the Office of the Tennessee Attorney General claiming that Cracker Barrel’s DEI policies violate the Tennessee Human Rights Act and requesting that the company be investigated at the state level for such violations.
“Cracker Barrel is a publicly traded corporation incorporated under the laws of the State of Tennessee…Cracker Barrel represents to shareholders, investors, and the public that it has and will continue limiting, segregating, or classifying employees or applicants for employment in ways that would deprive, or tend to deprive, white and/or male individuals of employment, training, or promotions because of their race, color, sex, or national origin,” AFL wrote to Senior Counsel for Strategic Litigation Steven J. Griffin.
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Kaitlin Housler is a reporter at The Tennessee Star and The Star News Network. Follow Kaitlin on X / Twitter.
Photo “Cracker Barrel Store” by Ildar Sagdejev. CC BY-SA 4.0.
I am a senior white male on Social Security and I was seeking to supplement my income with a new career as a dishwasher at Cracker Barrel. The HR person told me I was “over qualified” and would embarrass co-workers with my command of the English language and the over use of “big words”. I crawled out of the HR office in a state of humiliation and despair.
Is there no place I can fit in? Even Cracker Barrel won’t take a Cracker!
No wonder their food has gotten so bad. I quit eating there after asking for some decent green beans twice. Waitress finally divulged the fac that Cracker Barrel had started selling food left over from the previous day. That was just the frosting on the cake. I am done with them after eating there regularly for 25 years.