By May 2020, a Hooters in Greensboro, N.C., brought back 13 of the 43 servers who were laid off weeks earlier at the beginning of the pandemic, according to a new lawsuit filed by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.

All but one of them were “white and/or had light skin” tones, the lawsuit says.

The restaurant chain, known for its “Hooters Girls” and revealing uniforms, “engaged in unlawful employment practices,” the EEOC alleges in the lawsuit. Filed on Thursday in federal court in North Carolina, the lawsuit alleges that Hooters violated federal law by not rehiring women because of their race or color.

Hooters did not respond to The Washington Post’s request for comment Sunday evening. Staff at the Greensboro restaurant directed The Post to the corporate office.

Even before the March 2020 layoffs, the servers at the Greensboro Hooters who are “Black and/or have dark skin” tones experienced “racial discrimination and hostility” from their managers, the lawsuit states.

The managers showed a preference for servers who were white and had light skin tones, according to the lawsuit. They joked about the appearances of the servers who were Black and dark-skinned, including about their hair, it adds. The managers also gave the “preferred or more lucrative shifts” to servers who were white and had light skin tones, the lawsuit alleges.

When the restaurant’s servers were laid off, a manager allegedly told them the layoffs were not permanent.

The restaurant began rehiring servers in late April. Twelve of the 13 were “white and/or had light skin tone,” though around half of those who were laid off were “Black and/or had dark skin tone.” During the rehiring process, Hooters “unlawfully deprived” the women of color who had previously worked there of equal employment opportunities, the lawsuit alleges.

In March, the EEOC sent a letter to Hooters, saying the restaurant had violated Title VII, a section of the Civil Rights Act that makes it illegal for employees to discriminate on the basis of race. The EEOC also offered Hooters the chance to “eliminate the discriminatory practices and provide appropriate relief,” but the effort ultimately failed, according to the lawsuit.

The complaint asks the court to require Hooters to implement policies that provide equal opportunities to “eradicate the effects of past and present unlawful employment practices.” In addition, it calls for the restaurant to compensate the servers of color who were not rehired.

The lawsuit requests a trial by jury.

Over the years, Hooters has faced other lawsuits from servers who say they experienced sexual harassment, weight discrimination and wage theft. In 2013, a woman who had worked at a Baltimore Hooters sued the restaurant for racial discrimination. The former employee, who is Black, alleged that Hooters managers told her she could not have blonde highlights in her hair, the Baltimore Sun reported. She was fired but awarded $250,000 in the case.