Diner Sues Hardee's For Violating His Civil Rights By Giving Him Only 2 Hash Rounds

A man in North Carolina is accusing the Hardee’s fast food chain of violating his civil rights by shorting him on his fried potatoes.

Tommy Martin, 58, of Mount Holly, is suing Hardee’s after he was given only two hash rounds with his breakfast platter on May 30 at the Belmont location.

A photo for the dish on the restaurant’s website shows about a dozen hash rounds on the plate.

Martin, who is black, told the Charlotte Observer he believes the tater shorting was racially motivated since he was the only non-white person dining or working at the Hardee’s.

“It’s not a money issue,” Martin said. “I just want to be treated fairly.”

According to the handwritten lawsuit obtained by the Jacksonville Daily News, Martin first complained to the cashier, who tried to correct the order.

However, Martin claims the manager stopped the employee from adding more hash rounds to the order, saying to him, “That what you get.”

The manager did also refund his money for the purchase.

In the lawsuit, Martin said he was teary-eyed by the time he got home and decided he had to do something.

Martin also reported the incident to police.

Martin said he now suffers from cibophobia, a fear of food.

HuffPost reached out to the Belmont Hardee’s, which did not immediately respond.

A spokesperson at the Hardee’s corporate office released a statement to HuffPost saying it takes the allegations seriously but is declining to comment since the lawsuit is against an independently owned and operated franchise:

“Hardee’s is aware of the lawsuit filed this week which alleges that a guests’ civil rights were violated while visiting one of our independently owned and operated franchised locations over a year ago. As a company we take these allegations seriously, however, as this lawsuit is pending against a franchisee, we have no additional comment on the matter at this time.”