Subject: Kentucky Fried Chicken
From: <[email-masked]>
Date: Tue, 21 Mar 1995 22:11:20 -0500

The April issue of The Letter, Kentucky's gay and lesbian newspaper, has been
put to bed.  If you'd like to get a text file with a selection of articles
and features from this month's issue, please e-mail me and I will send it to
you.  Most of these articles cover news from the immediate region which may
not be getting out to the national gay and lesbian community.

We are including our lead article below--about Kentucky Fried Chicken.
 Permission to reprint is hereby granted as long as The Letter is attributed
as the source.

For subscriptions, send $25 to The Letter, PO Box 3882, Louisville, KY
 40201.  Thanks.

David Williams, Editor

KFC DENIES ALLEGATIONS OF DISCRIMINATION

by David Williams

KFC, Inc. (formerly Kentucky Fried Chicken) is vehemently denying that it
discriminates against employees because of their race or sexual orientation
and points to its equal employment policy as proof.

"It is unfortunate that the author of this rumor did not check with us
first," says Jean Litterst, Manager of Public Affairs at KFC's world
headquarters in Louisville.  "I can assure you that it is absolutely
unacceptable to KFC to terminate an employee because he or she is gay or
lesbian.  Such an act would be totally against KFC's equal employment
opportunity policy.  It is our policy.  We certainly respect the personal
choices of our employees in every arena, including religion, politics, and
sexual orientation, among others."

The policy, adopted January 1, 1986 and revised on April 2, 1993, states that
KFC's goal is to encourage gender, racial, and ethnic diversity at all levels
of its work force and to maintain a working environment free of
discrimination and sexual harassment.  "KFC affords equal opportunity to all
applicants and associates," it goes on, "without regard to race, color,
religion, sex, sexual orientation, age, marital status, national origin, or
citizenship...."

Litterst was responding to claims made by Denise Bentley, former manager of a
KFC store on West Market Street in Louisville, that she had been forced to
terminate a valued employee in 1992 because he was gay.  The employee, who
she says still lives in Louisville, could not be located for this article.

(Bentley is suing KFC on an unrelated matter in which she claims KFC did not
give her her old job back, as promised, after being off for a work-related
injury).

According to Bentley, the KFC management representative who regularly visited
her store repeatedly asked her to fire the man because KFC did not want gay
employees.  Bentley refused.  "I felt if I had to terminate this person based
on their sexual orientation," she says, "then I was opening up Pandora's box
and giving KFC the opportunity to terminate anybody for any reason, including
their race, their weight, their disability, whatever.  It's not an acceptable
practice."

Bentley says the representative did eventually fire the man on a day when she
was off.  The employee later filed for unemployment compensation.  Bentley
testified at a hearing that his work record was excellent and that she knew
of no valid reason for his dismissal.  He was approved for payments, but
Bentley says that at a meeting soon thereafter KFC told its store managers
that they must not hire people who are "obviously" gay or lesbian.

Litterst counters, however, that the company has no record of any such
hearing.  She says that the individual responsible for handling employee
complaints, who has held that position for four years, does not recall
anything close to what Bentley claims, and neither do his two predecessors.
 "From his experience with KFC during the last four years," she notes, "the
sexual orientation of our employees, like their religion or their politics,
is not a matter of concern to the company."

"I'm very offended by these allegations," she concludes.  "In those instances
where an employee has disclosed their sexual orientation, those employees
have continued to enjoy very successful careers with KFC."

Charges of racial discrimination have also been leveled against KFC by
others.  The Justice Resource Center, led by Rev. Louis Coleman of
Louisville, is planning a one-day city-wide protest and boycott against KFC
on Saturday, April 1 to demand that KFC implement fair hiring and promotional
practices, in writing, for all its employees.  Other companies, such as Taco
Bell and Pizza Hut, which are owned by PepsiCo, KFC's parent company, are
also being targeted.