Chef's lawsuit claims ex-wife of T. Boone Pickens asked for 'black people food'

The ex-wife of billionaire T. Boone Pickens is being accused of racial discrimination in a lawsuit which claims she requested that a chef provide "black people food."

According to the Elko Daily Free Press, the plaintiff is an African-American man named Armand Appling, a sous chef who did work for Madeleine Pickens' two businesses, Saving America's Mustangs and Del Mar Country Club.

The filing alleges that she made a series of racially insensitive comments to him including one where he quotes her as telling him, "I don't want you to cook white people food. I want you to cook black people food."

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Appling says she then gave examples like fried chicken and corn bread.

He also claims she asked him to fire two black employees working under him—one of whom he says she referred to as a "bull" or "ox" and the other she is said to have described as having "too much personality."

And, according to the Associated Press, or AP, "Appling alleges he was fired 2014 in retaliation for complaining about a hostile work environment."

Pickens team has dismissed any motive of racial discrimination from past statements, saying instead that they "reflect a non-racial personality conflict and amount to discourtesy, rudeness or lack of sensitivity."

The AP reports that the overseeing judge has determined a lack of evidence on the plaintiff's part but has given them additional time to refile.