Why is Buffalo Wild Wings being sued? Racial slur lawsuit explained

Buffalo Wild Wings is dealing with a significant lawsuit after a Black Virginia couple claimed to have received a takeout receipt from one of the chain’s restaurants that contained a racial slur, an act that has ignited backlash and prompted renewed calls for worker accountability.

The 37-year-old disabled Army veteran, Marc Loman and his wife Natasha are looking for $5 million in damages and have blamed the restaurant chain and its parent company Blazin’ Wings Inc. of intentional infliction of emotional distress.

Marc Loman and his wife expected potato wedges from Buffalo Wild Wings, not a side of racism printed on their receipt.https://t.co/Ynb9uIFNwL

— Atlanta Black Star (@ATLBlackStar) November 25, 2025

According to the civil rights complaint, the incident took place in November 2024 at a Buffalo Wild Wings in Woodbridge, Virginia. The Lomans stated they had gone to the restaurant, where they arrived around 1:30 a.m., ordered from the manager on duty and ate inside before requesting that their leftover potato wedges be boxed up so they could take them home.

It wasn’t until the couple got home and tried to reheat their meal that the disturbing revelation was made: a shortened version of the N word, spelled “n*gs”, appeared on both their receipt and takeout box.

Stunned, Natasha supposedly left a one-star Yelp review and soon shared what happened on TikTok, where her video went viral. She included a photo of her receipt and questioned “the audacity” of the manager to assign them such a label.

More details related to the civil rights complaint against Buffalo Wild Wings

The couple later notified the corporate office of Buffalo Wild Wings to report what they thought was an act of hate.

According to the lawsuit, the following day, a corporate vice president called to tell them that an internal review concluded that the racial slur had been entered into the system intentionally by the restaurant’s kitchen manager. The worker was terminated in the wake of the investigation.

In the civil complaint, the family has said that the worker “knew, or should have known” using a well-established racial slur would cause emotional distress.

Buffalo Wild Wings sued for $5M after racial slur allegedly found on receipt in Virginia. Read more: https://t.co/CcmP0Azssj pic.twitter.com/pT8jsePslv

— Complex (@Complex) November 26, 2025

For Mr. Loman in particular, the filing says, the incident has been “especially painful,” forcing him to revisit old wounds of racial harassment he endured while growing up in the Deep South. The experience left Marc distraught and led him to miss work and attend therapy, the couple said.

In addition to the specific actions of the employee, the lawsuit alleges that Buffalo Wild Wings did nothing to stop discriminatory behavior from occurring in its workplace and didn’t protect patrons from such conduct.

Buffalo Wild Wings has yet to release a full public statement regarding the lawsuit, but they did confirm in a brief statement that the employee involved was fired following an internal investigation.