[yahoo] Ex-Rocket accuses restaurant of discrimination

You remove patrons for being rowdy. Prior to being asked to leave was he rowdy? If not, then said establishment shouldn't have a right to kick out without reason. A "tradition" is not a reason. And if they are so hell-bent on maintaining that tradition give a headsup to everyone in the bar so they don't go on a hate-filled rage.

 

A private business has the 'right' to remove anyone they find disruptive. It's not up to the patron to decide if he is being disruptive or not.

 

Yes, except if the rule is to discourage patronage from a certain protected class defined by the Constitution, with race and gender each included. If JBC is right that he was singled out for being black and it's part of a pattern of discouraging black patronage, then it is a civil rights violation and the bar should be punished.

That he was 'disruptive' is no excuse. If he was disruptive, it was because he objected to being discriminated against and that is the fault of the bar. It reminds me of that black guy who was kicked off a plane for refusing to pull up his pants. His refusal was deemed 'disruptive' but they should never have even asked him in the first place. So, it was the fault of the airline, just as this would be the fault of the bar if he was targeted for being black.

I still don't get, though, why he isn't using gender as a protected class. I don't believe that a jury would laugh him out of the courtroom, given the strictures a judge would put around their decision-making. That seems to me to be a very winnable argument. I can see not pursuing it because JBC doesn't have a big problem with a gender inequity, but is offended because he really thinks the bar discriminates against blacks (and he may well be right).

 

its so sad that this stereotype exists in the industry, but whats worse is the longer I've worked in it, the truer it feels. Heh, I work at a fine-dining restaurant in Dallas and even our black co-workers are like "crap, canadians..." (yes, the code-word for servers at any restaurant seems to be canadians) because they also feel that they will not be taken care of with a socially acceptable tip for stellar service.

I took care of this African-American couple the other night, EXTREMELY awesome and sweet. It was their first time in and so I led them through the menu, they asked about special drinks and pairings, and all through the night (was a slower night) we talked every time I came to the table. The food, our summers, music, etc. I'm not usually chatty because a diner's experience is not meant to be me yapping all night, but this table had a lot of questions and it just became very conversational. As the night ended and they asked for their bill, I brought it and the couple used a 50$ gift card and split the remaining balance.

Then I was tipped 9% on the "remaining" balance, not the entire check.

*sigh*

Its obviously not 100% true, but I hate that the stereotype lives on in any kind of real way... I've been working restaurants since 2002 while writing and recording music, from a little dinky Mexican restaurant to one of DFW's premier steak houses... and its been a stereotype known to me since my first week.

This post isn't meant to be racist or confrontational, more of just speaking generally about the industry and a good experience turned sour. I'm sure I'll get some hate for posting it, who knows.

 

The whole American idea of tipping IS kinda weird, to an outsider, though. I get trying to incentivize good service, but leaving someone's pay to a social contract/honor system is prone to abuse/interpretation. I don't think most bad tippers mean it maliciously. Sure, some are cheap, but some just have never worked in the industry or it was never ingrained in them to tip decently.

 

agreed, agreed. I don't think its anything a customer means against a server (well, unless there IS bad service lol), but more of what you said.

The whole $2.13 an hour thing is ridiculous and I can't believe that amount wasn't raised when minimum wage went up. Sure we get paid in tips, but shouldn't there be some boost to that? Its all hit or miss anyway, you could give perfect service on one table and get 10%, or be really busy and give another table "okay" service and get 30%. Ya just never know, and thats the chance we take. I respect that, and everyone has their own tipping knowledge ingrained in them.

Know whats kind've funny? People will tip on over-priced lobster or expensive steak, which I have nothing to do with, but not on wine. Seriously, I have to go through this whole presentation, not break the cork on these old bottles, keep everyones glass full, not spill on the table even tho its obviously easy to do, and not be a jerk and overpour so you feel you have to order more for those who weren't evenly distributed. I'm not saying a server deserves 50$ on a 250$ bottle of wine necessarily or anything, just that if a lobster special is 120$ then why would you consider tipping me on what I DID NOT cook, but not on the wine I've actually been involved with throughout the meal? Thanks, Oprah. Haha, jk.

One time I worked at Pappadeaux an this older woman gave me a $7 tip all in coins (mostly quarters). Another time I had a man put $3, fanned out, on the table and say "if you do well, thats what you'll get. Everytime you make a mistake, I'm taking a dollar away."

?!?!?!?!! LOL. :grin:

good stuff. Whats funny is I love it.

 

Yeah, I miss the service industry a lot. The comeraderie, interaction, stories, frustration. Good stuff.

I've heard of the "dollar on the table" thing before. Epitome of customer douchiness.

 

Jury to former NBA star: No discrimination

Carroll cried racism, but then he's racist himself since the women being white was what really bothered him. Lol what an idiot.

 

Hey guys have you heard the one about the 2 black dudes who walk into a Jewish guy's bar?

The incident, the lawsuit, this thread and the fact that something like this made national news is all a joke.

Don't know if this was racist, it's a case of he said she said but it's entirely plausible that a bar owner would want to put hot chicks up at the front of the bar (which, in the case that this particular was in fact racially motivated, is obviously why the bar owner chose that as his defense)

It's not unusual, per civilized decorum that a patron be asked to move, slide over or switch seats. I used to work in an upscale restaurant going through grad school and it happens.

On the flipside discrimination is a fact of business. You discriminate all the time: well dressed people sit up front. Big tippers get the good tables. Famous folks dont have to book a reservation. There was even a restaurant in NY that put all the Asians in a side dining room lol. Depending on how they were acting, it's entirely possible that they were in fact singled out for being black. It could even be that the bartender wanted them to move because they weren't tipping or any number of things.

I'm gonna guess that the reason why these guys didn't want to give up the seats is likely that they were there exactly because it was a hotspot and they were there to pick up white women. Otherwise it's pretty shady to get butthurt and refuse to man up and accommodate a couple of ladies at the management's request.

 

i wonder how the responses in this thread would look if it was in fact a black owned bar with scantily clad black hotties sittin up front and jordan farmar and his buddy got thrown out :grin: