The suit against Deen charges that she helped to create a hostile work environment. Paula Deen pins hopes on SCOTUS

Paula Deen is hoping the Supreme Court’s ruling on gay marriage can help her get a lawsuit for a hostile work environment against her dismissed.

The celebrity chef’s lawyers filed a motion asking the court to dismiss the case against her based on standing, citing the court’s ruling on the Proposition 8 case last week, according to news reports.


A woman is suing Deen and her brother for an alleged hostile work environment at one of her restaurants, which included racism and harassment. Deen’s lawyers said Monday in their filing that because the woman is white, she doesn’t have standing before the court to claim she was affected by racism.

The motion cites Hollingsworth v. Perry, in which the Supreme Court ruled last week that the proponents of Prop 8 bringing the appeal to the court weren’t legally able to, as they didn’t have standing.

“Writing for the majority, Chief Justice Roberts made this observation: Article III of the Constitution confines the judicial power of federal courts to deciding actual ‘Cases’ or ‘Controversies,’” the motion, filed on Monday, said, according to CNN. “One essential aspect of this requirement is that any person invoking the power of a federal court must demonstrate standing to do so. This requires the litigant to prove that he has suffered a concrete and particularized injury that is fairly traceable to the challenged conduct, and is likely to be redressed by a favorable judicial decision.”

Deen has lost several contracts and faced a storm of backlash after she admitted, in a deposition for the lawsuit, using the N-word.