PARENTS PROTEST AT CRACKER BARREL AFTER STUDENTS WITH SPECIAL NEEDS WERE REFUSED SERVICE

PEOPLE

 

Parents Protest at Cracker Barrel After Students with Special Needs Were Refused Service: ‘Our Kids Matter’

By David Chiu and Brian Brant  Published on December 16, 2024 06:46PM EST

 

A group of protesters numbering in the dozens staged a demonstration outside of a Cracker Barrel in Waldorf, Md., after the restaurant was accused of refusing service to special needs students in early December.

 

“We’re protesting, not only for the 11 children that Cracker Barrel discriminated against, but for all kids or humans that are disabled or have special needs," Dustin Reed, a protester and parent whose 7-year-old daughter, Madelynn, was one of the students who were allegedly discriminated against, told CBS affiliate WUSA at the Sunday, Dec. 15 event.

 

The incident allegedly took place on Tuesday, Dec. 3, when 11 students and seven staff members visited the Cracker Barrel in Waldorf, read a Dec. 5 statement from Superintendent of Charles County Public Schools (CCPS) Maria V. Navarro. The visit, according to the superintendent, was part of a community-based instruction (CBI) that allows students to practice generalizing skills.

 

“Prior to the Dec. 3 visit,” wrote Navarro, “CCPS staff notified the establishment of the planned visit, including how many were in the party, and shared the CBI purpose of the visit. CCPS staff was reportedly told by restaurant staff that no reservations were necessary.” 

 

“Upon arrival,” she continued, “the students and staff were declined service and asked to no longer include the restaurant on its CBI list. The group was able to place a carry-out order.”

 

Navarro added that she spoke with the restaurant’s district manager about what allegedly happened and why the students and staff were denied service.

 

“Our students and staff are our No. 1 priority, and we are disheartened to learn about the alleged treatment they received while participating in an activity designed to educate our students using real-world applications,” Navarro wrote. “The alleged treatment of CCPS students and staff at Cracker Barrel is one that no one should experience. However, it is encouraging to learn that the district manager said the business would be willing to work with CCPS to do better.”

 

Following the alleged incident, the restaurant confirmed in a statement later obtained by PEOPLE that a general manager of the Waldorf Cracker Barrel location was fired, along with two other employees.

 

In a previous statement, the company said that the incident happened "due to our inability to accommodate a party of 18 that arrived when we were facing unexpected staffing issues and had partially closed our second dining room."

 

"At Cracker Barrel, we strive to create a welcoming environment and great experience for all of our guests," the company said. "That we disappointed this group of students and teachers during their recent visit is unacceptable to us, and we sincerely apologize."

 

Cracker Barrel also added: "Our missteps last week were unfortunate but were unrelated to the students’ capabilities. ... Our failure to follow certain operational protocols combined with poor communication on our part then led to misunderstandings and misperceptions."

 

At the Dec. 15 protest outside of the Waldorf location, demonstrators held up signs that read, “Treat us equally,” “Inclusion is a right not a privilege” and “God loves and accepts everyone! Why can’t Cracker Barrel?” USA Today reported.  The protesters were also heard chanting, “Treat us equally” and “Our kids matter.”

 

“It sends a message that we will not tolerate discrimination in Charles County," Dyotha Sweat, Charles County NAACP president, told WUSA about the demonstration. "If we have to continue to do this, we will. This is not a one and done.”

 

Andrew Blumhardt, a protester whose 7-year-old daughter Mary was also one of the students allegedly discriminated against, said his daughter was told by a server to move her electric wheelchair.

 

“Not everyone knows what kids who have disabilities like this go through,” Blumhardt said, USA Today reported. “Obviously, the staff at Cracker Barrel didn’t know.”

 

Reed told NBC affiliate WRC that Cracker Barrel did not apologize for allegedly discriminating against his child and the other students during the Dec. 3 visit. “In the meeting that they had last Monday [Dec. 9] with us parents, they denied discrimination, told us that we're all going to have to agree to disagree and they’re sorry that we feel this way,” he said.

 

When reached by PEOPLE on Monday, Dec. 16, about the protest, a spokesperson for Cracker Barrel said they declined to comment.

Update:

Daily Mail

 

Scandal-plagued Cracker Barrel forced to compensate students turned away from restaurant for being disabled

By LAUREN ACTON-TAYLOR, US NEWS REPORTER

Published: 01:54 EST, 10 December 2025 | Updated: 03:13 EST, 10 December 2025

 

Cracker Barrel has been forced to pay up after a group of disabled students who were rejected from one of the chain's Maryland restaurants.

 

The restaurant chain will fork out nearly $102,000 in costs after Dr James Craik Elementary School teachers launched a discrimination lawsuit claiming Cracker Barrel employees in Waldorf refused to serve the group.

 

Eleven students from two special education programs and seven teachers visited the restaurant on a trip aimed to help students practice social and life skills in December 2024.

 

The teachers alleged the group was denied service and subjected to 'mistreatment' because of the students' disabilities.

 

Cracker Barrel claimed that it was having staffing challenges at the time, but later fired a general manager and two employees over the incident.

 

The restaurant has now agreed to pay each student $7,500, totaling $75,000, as well as a donation of $17,500 to several education and inclusion programs at the elementary school as part of a settlement agreement. 

 

The terms also stipulate that the chain reimburse Charles County Public Schools $446.56 for the expenses related to their visit and donate $9,000 to the Civil Rights Enforcement Fund.

 

The group claimed that they had called ahead to the restaurant and were told they wouldn't need to make a reservation, but once they arrived they were declined service, NBC 4 reported.

 

One restaurant employee even allegedly requested the location be removed from the list of businesses willing to participate in the community-based instruction program, according to the outlet.

 

While they were able to place a carryout order, a father of a seven-year-old nonverbal daughter, Dustin Reed, said the incident, 'broke my heart.'

 

'Pushed off to the side, and just not even paid attention to. [The] only thing they wanted to go in there to do was eat some food and enjoy their time there and learn from it,' Reed told the outlet.  

 

According to the state's attorney general Anthony Brown, the teachers 'alleged that their group experienced delays and mistreatment because of the students' disabilities.'

 

One parent said on Facebook that her daughter had been one of the students involved in the alleged incident.

 

She said that 'rudeness' and 'refusal to provide service' was a problem throughout the restaurant staff.

 

'My daughter was the one whose adaptive stroller was bumped into repeatedly by the same staff member,' she wrote.

 

'Due to the severity of her intellectual disability, she was likely unaware of what happened, which unfortunately was not the case for her classmates. We are so grateful for all those who stood up for their dignity including the State of Maryland Civil Rights Office.'

 

Another parent shared an email sent to Cracker Barrel that said that the staff had agreed to allow an order to go and that the students could wait at a table, but alleged that 'during this time, the servers were blatantly rude to our staff and ignored all of our students.'

 

In a statement on Facebook, the parent wrote: 'What happened to our son and his classmates confirmed a fear that many parents of children with disabilities quietly carry that they may be treated as less than human, and that those responsible might try to dismiss or minimize the harm.

 

'We made this situation public because the treatment our children received was unacceptable, full stop. And we want it clearly understood: any mistreatment of our son, or any disregard for his dignity and well-being, will be called out and confronted every single time.'

 

Additionally, the general manager, according to the parent, told the group: 'We cannot accommodate to your group and will not be serving them. Please have our establishment removed from the list because we don't accommodate to this type of group.'

 

In a statement to the outlet at the time, Cracker Barrel said: 'A staffing challenge that day led to the closure of part of our second dining room, creating confusion that impacted the group's experience.

 

'We take this matter seriously and are working directly with the groups' leadership to better understand what happened, extend our apologies and make things right.'

 

The chain, however, denied violating any state or federal law and 'contends that the students were in no way denied service or treated differently because of their disabilities,' the settlement said.

 

Cracker Barrel has also been instructed to pay for and work with a law firm to evaluate its public accommodation policies and training, which will recommended any necessary changes.

 

'At a minimum' Cracker Barrel will have to modify its existing public accommodation policy to include 'reasonable modifications... to serve individuals with disabilities, pursuant to the Americans with Disabilities Act and similar state laws,' the settlement read.

 

The restaurant has also been told to issue a written apology addressed to the students involved in the alleged incident, as well as parents and teachers, within ten days.

 

'When businesses break the law and fail to treat people with disabilities with the dignity and respect they deserve, my Office will step in and hold them accountable,' state's attorney general Brown said.

 

'This settlement compensates these students and their school while requiring Cracker Barrel to update its policies – advancing inclusion and accessibility not just across Maryland, but across the entire country.'

 

Maryland Commission on Civil Rights Executive Director Cleveland Horton II said the settlement serves as a reminder that 'every child, every family and every Marylander deserves to move through our communities with dignity, respect and full inclusion.'