‘Employee of the month’ files $25M lawsuit against Magic Mountain alleging racial discrimination

A Six Flags Magic Mountain food server who was named “Employee of the Month” is suing the theme park for $25 million, alleging he was discriminated against and wrongfully fired after working at Big Belly Burger.

Charles Winters, who is black, claims in a Los Angeles lawsuit that he faced racial discrimination while working at the park from 2022 to 2025. Among the allegations, Winters says black employees were told the company Christmas party had been canceled.

Winters learned about the party from an employee bulletin board and asked a supervisor, who allegedly told him it was canceled. Two black coworkers said they were told the same thing, but Winters later discovered the party had gone ahead as planned, according to the lawsuit.

Winters says during “down time,” when food service team members were required to clean, the black workers were treated differently than white employees at Magic Mountain, which is named as a defendant in the suit.

“Often, Defendant’s African-American employees would be on their hands and knees cleaning the floor, refrigerators, counters and various other areas, while Defendant’s white employees were given the less strenuous job of waiting at the cash register,” according to the court documents.  

“Additionally, Plaintiff, and other African-American employees, were subject to increased scrutiny based on their appearance. Plaintiff’s supervisors would constantly check that Plaintiff’s uniform shirt was tucked in, much more so than they did for other employees,” the lawsuit added. 

Winters claimed he and other black employees were pushed to upsell souvenirs and disciplined if they failed to upsell, “which non African-American employees were not subject to.”

Winters, who was named “employee of the month” in August 2023, says he went to a high-level manager to report the discrimination and request a transfer.

“This high level manager informed Plaintiff that he could not be transferred and that he would just have to deal with any issues he had,” according to the lawsuit. 

Winters detailed another alleged incident from June 21, 2025 when he was leaving the park after work and was stopped by a white security guard.

The guard immediately questioned why he was in the park “without justification.” Winters alleges he was singled out because he is black, prompting security to call the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department, according to the lawsuit.

The suit says Winters showed deputies his employee badge, confirming he was an employee and not a trespasser. Despite that, Magic Mountain’s loss prevention team allegedly confiscated his badge.

Winters was suspended and fired on July 3, 2025, with the company allegedly claiming he failed to cooperate with security and refused to show his badge.

He is seeking $25 million in damages, alleging he lost wages, benefits, future earning potential and other employment opportunities.

Six Flags Magic Mountain did not immediately respond to The California Post’s request for comment.

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