Ex-NYU Cafeteria Manager Sues School For $5 Million

WEST VILLAGE, NY — A former manager of a dining hall at NYU is suing the university and its food service provider for $5 million, saying that he was the scapegoat for an "insensitive" incident in February when a dining hall at the school served watermelon-flavored water, Kool-Aid and collard greens for a Black History Month meal.

Tim Hoben sued his former employer Aramark, the food services provider at NYU, along with the university on Wednesday for $5 million. Hoben alleged that Aramark made hime the scapegoat for the incident, which caused outrage among black students at the university and bad press for the company.

Hoben, who was fired 36 hours after a student's post about the Black History Month meal went viral, said Aramark "called him an insubordinate racist on the internet," costing him his job and health insurance and making it difficult for him to find new employment.

Hoben, 53, was a manager at the Weinstein Dining Hall on NYU's campus in February, when the meal in question was served. Aramark instructed dining halls to organize a meal to recognize Black History Month, with a menu suggested by employees of the dining hall, according to his suit. The cafeteria served Kool-Aid and watermelon-flavored water, all foods associated with racist stereotypes of black Americans

NYU student Nia Harris first reported the meal on Facebook, and her post quickly drew dozens of reactions.

"In 2018 I literally had to explain why displaying watermelon and koolaid in celebration of Black History Month was not only racially insensitive but just ignorant," Harris said in the post. "I've wanted to go to NYU since I was 7th grade, and it breaks my heart that at this allegedly 'diverse' and 'global' institution, black students are faced with issues like this one."

The post quickly drew outrage. The school's president Andrew Sullivan called the meal served by Aramark "inexcusably insensitive," and Aramark publicly apologized, calling the incident an "inexcusable menu mistake."

Hoben said that although he had no role in planning or implementing the meal, he was fired within 36 hours and forced to take the blame.

"Rather than accepting blame for its own offensive program, Aramark served Mr. Hoben’s termination to the public and the press," Hoben said in his lawsuit. "In doing this Aramark attempted to mitigate their P.R. nightmare by assailing the character of an individual who play no role in the planning or execution of the menu."

An Aramark spokesman told the New York Post, which was the first to cover the lawsuit, that the company disputed Hoben's allegations. A university spokesman told the newspaper that "the employees involved weren't NYU employees."

Image credit: Ciara McCarthy / Patch