Papa John’s founder John Schnatter has sued the pizza company he founded, saying board members acted carelessly and that the pizza chain did not properly respond to a request for internal records, Reuters reports.
Schnatter filed a lawsuit against Papa John’s International Inc. in Delaware Chancery Court on Thursday.
The complaint move comes two weeks after he resigned as chairman of the company’s board after Forbes published an article saying that Schnatter used the N-word during a conference call in May.
He used the racial slur during the call, which was in response to comments he made in November saying that the NFL “has hurt” the company over its handling of the national anthem-related protests involving league players, according to the publication.
“Colonel Sanders called Blacks N**gers,” he reportedly said on the call.
His lawyers claim Papa John’s has treated Schnatter unfairly and the story was erroneously reported, even though he apologized for using “inappropriate and hurtful language.”
“Mr. Schnatter’s attorneys are seeking to inspect Company documents because of the unexplained and heavy-handed way in which the Company has treated him since the publication of a story that falsely accused him of using a racial slur,” Schnatter’s attorneys said in a statement to Reuters.
“Instead of standing behind the founder and working with news media to explain what actually occurred, the Company followed its usual, and flawed, manner of dealing with false and mistaken reporting as to comments made by Mr. Schnatter,” the lawsuit reads in part, per CNBC.
Schnatter expressed regret resigning as chairman of the board, after issuing an apology.
