EAST ST. LOUIS, Ill. (AP) -- A federal jury has ordered the Denny's restaurant chain to pay $600,000 in damages to 15 members of a black family who claimed their white waiter deliberately ignored them and used racial slurs.

The jury awarded each family member $5,000 in compensatory damages and $35,000 in punitive damages on Friday.

Sandra Green's family sued over a November 2003 meal at a Denny's restaurant in the St. Louis suburb of Fairview Heights. The waiter, who later was fired, allegedly served white patrons while ignoring the family. Some of Green's family members said they had to get their own drinks, utensils and napkins.

Family member Charles Tart Sr. described the experience as "pretty horrible."

"Denny's has been saying they have a zero-tolerance policy for discrimination," he said. "They need to make sure it's enforced. This is what we want. It's not really about the money. We don't want another black family or our children to have to go through what we went through."

Ed Ordonez, attorney for Spartanburg, S.C.-based Denny's Corp., told jurors that the Green family had received bad service but ultimately wasn't harmed.

He said the company will decide whether to appeal.

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Information from: Belleville News-Democrat, http://www.bnd.com