Top Chef, Restaurateur David Burke Faces Discrimination Suit

Ibrahima Kaba, a former employee of New York City restaurateur David Burke, has filed a religious discrimination lawsuit against the David Burke Group, reports The New York Daily News.

In the lawsuit, Kaba alleges that "All Muslim employees employed at David Burke Restaurants were subject to discrimination on the basis of their religion," and that Muslim employees "are systematically denied the rights to exercise their religion without facing retaliation, and are retaliated against if they seek the right to exercise their religion."

Kaba, who began working in one of Burke's restaurants in June 2012, claims that when hired, his employers told him that he would not be asked to work on Fridays in order to fulfill religious obligations. After two weeks, Kaba's managers began ordering him to work on Fridays. 

Later, when Kaba tried to leave for prayer for a few hours each Friday, he was told that he "was not allowed to leave for prayer."

A lawyer for the David Burke Group told The Daily News that it abides by all its "obligations under the labor law."

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Karen Lo is an associate editor at The Daily Meal. Follow her on Twitter @appleplexy.