The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), a Washington-based Islamic advocacy group, reports that the two men entered a Denny's in Billings, Mont., in March of last year and requested that their meals be prepared in separate skillets to avoid contamination by pork products. (Islam forbids the consumption of pork or pork products.)

The men allege that when they received their meals, there were small pieces of ham hidden under the eggs. When the men notified the restaurant manager, they were offered new meals. The man who agreed to receive a new meal alleged that it too contained hidden pieces of bacon.

Both men filed a complaint with the Montana Human Rights Bureau of the Department of Labor Industry and contacted CAIR. Following an investigation, the bureau determined that there was "reasonable cause to believe" that Denny's committed intentional unlawful discrimination.

In a letter to Denny's CEO John Romandetti, CAIR requested that the restaurant chain reach a mutually-agreeable settlement. CAIR also had discussions with Denny's Vice President and Assistant General Counsel Rob Barrett. Barrett indicated he wished to resolve the matter.

"Unfortunately, despite their claims to the contrary, Denny's officials have not taken positive action to deal with this incident, nor have they issued an apology from the corporate level," said CAIR Executive Director Nihad Awad. "It appears that Denny's does not take this case seriously and is not sensitive to the concerns of the American Muslim community," said Awad. Awad added that to prevent this type of incident from occurring in the future, Denny's needs to add religious sensitivity training to its existing anti- discrimination efforts.

The men filed a complaint with the Montana Human Rights Commission seeking an apology and monetary relief. To date, Denny's officials have only offered free meals as compensation. "It is hard to set a figure for relief when your client feels that Denny's has poisoned their soul," said Jeff Ferguson, the men's attorney. Denny's has been the frequent target of racial discrimination allegations. In 1994, the chain paid $45.7 million to settle a lawsuit by African-American customers. Just recently, a group of Hispanic customers alleged that employees at a San Jose, Ca., Denny's made them wait, refused them service and called the police to have them ejected. This allegation came as Denny's launched a $2 million anti-racism campaign on broadcast networks and cable television. The spots end with the line, "Diversity: It's about all of us."

Denny's (http:/www.dennysrestaurants.com/) is a unit of Spartanburg, S.C.-based Advantica Restaurant Group Inc. The 46-year-old chain has 50,000 employees in more than 1,600 restaurants. There are an estimated six million Muslims in this country and some 1.2 billion worldwide.