The lawsuit filed against celebrity chef Paula Deen comprising racial discrimination and sexual harassment allegations that roughly put her multi-million wealth at stake had been dismissed by a federal judge on Friday afternoon.
U.S. District Judge William Moore wrote in a statement that court documents will not provide for any fees or award of costs to the two parties involved on the sexual harassment case.
"While this has been a difficult time for both my family and myself, I am pleased that the judge dismissed the race claims and I am looking forward to getting this behind me, now that the remaining claims have been resolved," Deen wrote on a statement she handed to the press.
The sexual harassment claim was filed by the five-year employee at Seafood and Oyster House Lisa Jackson. The lawsuit was actually directed against both Deen and her brother Bubba Heirs, the owners of the aforesaid restaurant located in Savannah, Georgia.
In previous reports, Jackson had divulged that she was a victim of sexual harassment perpetrated by the wealthy siblings, even exposing that the two had displayed streaks of racial discrimination against their restaurant's black employees.
On the other hand, the racial discrimination claim was dismissed earlier this month since the derogatory remarks from the siblings had been proven to be not directed against Jackson, leaving the sexual assault allegation an intact status.
However, the now-66-year-old chef was put on controversy after court documents leaked that she admitted to having used racial slur or the N-word against her employees in the past. This led to the decision of Scripps Networks Interactive Inc. to remove her cooking show from the Food Network cable tv channel.
Other companies associated to Paula Deen also cut their ties with the culinary star after hearing the news. Some of the companies that dropped her celebrity endorser contract for them included: Novo Nordisk, Smithfield Foods Inc., Wal-Mart Stores Inc., Target Corp, and Home Depot Inc. The same companies also announced that they will no longer sell or carry any of Deen's products, cookbooks, and housewares, slashing off a big portion of wealth from her thriving multi-million enterprise.
Nevertheless, after the lawsuit had been dismissed, Jackson relayed a statement to the public where she regarded Deen as a "woman of compassion and kindness."
"During a very difficult period in my life the Deen family gave me hope and the opportunity to work to build a brighter future for my family and me," Jackson confided. "I assumed that all of my complaints about the workplace environment were getting to Paula Deen, but I learned during this matter that this was not the case."
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