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ATLANTA — Alabama businessman Enrique Lang and his wife were en route to Atlanta nearly two years ago when they stopped at a Waffle House in Douglasville for breakfast.

Restaurant workers ignored the black couple while seating white customers, Lang alleged, then eventually pointed them toward an uncleared table.

They asked that the table be neatened, Lang said, only to be told to clean it themselves. When he began to object, Lang said, an employee identified herself as a manager and advised him to "Go to Church's Chicken, Leroy."

On Tuesday, Lang, 55, was one of several parties in four Southern states that sued the Norcross, Ga.-based chain in federal court, charging racial discrimination. Three Georgia restaurants were cited, the others in Savannah and Darien. Similar lawsuits were filed in North Carolina, Alabama and Virginia. The NAACP is among those filing suit in Georgia and Alabama.

The cases have similarities to about 20 others filed against Waffle House or its franchisee, Hillcrest Foods, on behalf of at least 70 customers, said attorney Susan Huhta, who represents the parties that sued.

"This is a pattern we find troubling ... that would be suggestive of a widespread problem," said Huhta, who works for the Washington Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights & Urban Affairs. The group has filed past discrimination complaints against Waffle House as well as against Denny's and Cracker Barrel restaurants. For now, it is not seeking class-action status, a spokesman for the lawyers said.

Huhta estimated that the committee has fielded at least 300 phone calls in the past three years from people detailing accounts of racial prejudice at Waffle House restaurants.

Waffle House emphasized Tuesday that two of those cases, in South Carolina and North Carolina, reached a jury trial, and the company was absolved. The most recent decision came last week in Asheville, N.C.

"We are confident the courts and juries will continue to favorably assess our systemic efforts and our actions in preventing discrimination, as they have in the two cases that have already been presented to a jury," the company said in a statement.

Waffle House said it trains employees "to fulfill the customers' needs," regardless of race, and has no tolerance for discrimination in its restaurants.

The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People endorsed the two lawsuits it did not join. The association pledged to alert members nationwide to report comparable incidents of possible discrimination.

"We are appalled that a citizen, whether they be African-American or another minority, is subjected to these types of treatment," Walter Butler, president of the Georgia NAACP chapter, said during a Tuesday news conference at a downtown Atlanta hotel.

Lang, who also attended, described his experience as "very, very degrading." The Alabaman said he joined the lawsuit after two letters to Waffle House went unanswered.

Sharon Perry, a Norcross resident, was also named in the lawsuit. She said she was visiting her hometown of Savannah in the summer of 2003 when she and two companions went to a Waffle House. It was just after midnight, and an employee pointed to a sign indicating that customers coming from nightclubs must pay their tabs upon ordering.

"We told her we were not club-goers," Perry said Tuesday, but indicated the worker insisted they cover the bill before placing their order.

"I was shocked," Perry said, "disgusted by her attitude."

Perry, 31, claimed her group canvassed the restaurant and concluded that only black customers were compelled to pay upfront. As they left, Perry said, a black worker told them, "That's basically how they do things around here."

Company policy prohibits restaurants from forcing customers to prepay bills, a Waffle House spokesman said.

The third Georgia allegation involves a black family of four from Alabama who accuse servers at the Darien Waffle House of ignoring them for an hour while white groups were waited on. According to the complaint, a family member was kept out of the restroom by an "out of order" sign that was hung after several white customers used it.

Mike Tierney writes for The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.