A group of African American employees have charged Wonder Bread Bakery with systematically discriminating against blacks by refusing to promote them beyond entry-level jobs and calling them \"too lazy\" and \"welfare people.\"

A lawsuit was file in San Francisco Superior Court by 15 male employees who work either at the company\'s San Francisco plant or its distributing centers in San Jose and Oakland. They are seeking $260 million in damages.

The company has denied the accusations.

Its San Francisco plant employs 600 people, including 25 African American who hold no supervisorial positions, not even at the lowest managerial levels, the suit alleges. Because of the absence of minorities, management is known as the \"White House,\" the employees say.

The employees also claim that they constantly put up with disparaging remarks and racial slurs. And they say they can\'t get together to talk because of a ban on African American \"congregating\" out of fear that they\'ll form a gang.

\"It\'s pretty similar to working on a plantation, except they don\'t whip us,\" plaintiff Theodis Carroll Jr. told The Chronicle last night. A decorated Gulf War veteran, 32 year-old Carroll works as a bread wrapper.

The workers\' suit was filed Thursday against Interstate Brands Corp., a Kansas City, Mo., corporation that owns Wonder Bread as well as 70 bakeries throughout the country. It is the largest bakery company in the nation.

\"IBC only hires African Americans for entry-level and low level positions and consistently failed and refused to promote African Americans,\" the 42-page complaint states.

\"It\'s pretty clear that there\'s an intention to keep them down,\" said Angela Alioto, who is representing the plaintiffs. She said one of her clients has been in the sanitation department for 25 years. \"It\'s pretty phenomenal that they have endured this for so long.\"

IBC spokesman Mark Dirkes said he couldn\'t comment specifically on the lawsuit, but he generally denied the accusations. \"We expect this one to go to court because we don\'t believe it\'s true,\" he said.

He said the company, which has been in business since 1928, is an equal opportunity employer and has not faced any other race discrimination suits. \"We certainly don\'t have a policy of discriminating,\" Dirkes said.

The employees raise a number of complaints in the lawsuit, including the claim that the company has for years been reluctant to hire minorities.

Of the 83 salespeople in the San Jose and Oakland outlets, six are African American.

The workers accused the company of maintaining a \"long-standing, widespread and deep-rooted racially discriminatory employment policy against hiring African Americans.\"

Those who are hired say they face little prospect of getting promoted. Four of the 15 men say they have been working at the company for at least 10 years. All but one say they have been repeatedly passed up for promotions because of discriminatory practices.

Herman Scott, who was hired in 1990, was promoted to foreman on a late-night shift that no one else wanted, the suit contends.

George Lassiter, who has been with the company for 30 years, was promoted one step up to foreman. But he said his boss constantly criticized him and made working conditions so intolerable that he was forced to take an early retirement last year.

The men also said they faced a barrage of racial slurs and insults from managers and co-workers, conduct that they say the company tolerates.

Carroll said whites called him \"boy\" and \"m-,\" and when he complained to a boss, nothing was done.

\"If you are a Caucasian male, they cover up for you and don\'t report it,\" said Carroll, who has been with the company nearly three years. \"If you are an African American male, they call for disciplinary action.\"

\"As an African American male, the littlest mistake you make gets turned into a major thing.\"

Plaintiffs who have complained about the discriminatory practices have either been fired, suspended of been forced to endure bad working conditions, the suit alleges.

Carroll said he was improperly suspended after complaining about the work situation.

Gerald Brown Sr. who was hired in 1994 as a driver, said not only has he been repeatedly passed over for promotions, but he also has been assigned to tucks that are unsafe because of bad breaks, faulty steering wheels and leaking gas tanks.

At one point, he complained after a fellow employee referred to a group of African American women as \"those welfare people.\" When Brown complained to management, he said he was fired in a retaliatory move. He was reinstated after the company held a hearing on the matter.