Buffalo Wild Wings Fired Employees After They Told A Group Of Black Diners To Move For A 'Racist' Customer
Several Buffalo Wild Wings employees were terminated after they allegedly asked a "group of minorities, mostly consisting of African Americans" to move tables to accommodate a "racist" regular customer.
A Facebook post about the incident, made by Mary Vahl, went viral last week. In the post, Mary wrote that she and her husband Justin were out to eat at a Buffalo Wild Wings in Naperville, IL, in a group of 18 people. After realizing that he originally told the host 15 guests, Mary said Justin went over to the host to correct his mistake and she asked him “what race are you guys?”
"My husband asked him why it mattered and the host responded that a table with 2 of their 'regular customers' were next to where we were to be seated and he didn’t want us sitting there because he’s 'racist,'" she wrote. "'Us' being a group of minorities, mostly consisting of African Americans...so of course, we don’t give him the satisfaction and told the host we’ll sit where they set us up."
Justin later went on to tell the Chicago Tribune that the host reportedly said the regular "doesn’t want black people sitting near him."
After being seated, Mary wrote that she felt the man staring at them as soon as they sat down. She said she saw an employee talking to the man in question before coming over to the group's table and telling them they'd have to move because their seats had been reserved. (A Naperville Sun reporter later called the restaurant and was told that it didn't take reservations). The group refused to move and asked for a manager at which point the employee said he was a manager.
After speaking with a service manager, as well, who also told them the table was reserved, Mary said she and the rest of the group elected to leave and go to Hooters instead.
“A moment to hangout with a group of friends after a birthday party turned into a discussion with our young impressionable sons about how we didn’t get kicked out, but willingly chose to leave because of the unfair treatment we were given," she wrote.
The post clearly struck a chord with many because as of this writing, it's been shared more than 6,000 times and has received more than 5,000 comments. Buffalo Wild Wings responded with a statement on Sunday, saying the employees in question had been terminated and the customer had been banned for life.
“We take this incident very seriously and after conducting a thorough, internal investigation have terminated the employees involved. Further, we have banned the customer who exhibited the inappropriate behavior from all Buffalo Wild Wings sports bars for life. Buffalo Wild Wings values an inclusive environment and has zero tolerance for discrimination of any kind. We have been in direct communication with the families to offer our deepest apologies for any unacceptable behavior. In addition to a company-wide RESPECT program we launched this fall, Buffalo Wild Wings will conduct sensitivity training throughout our Chicagoland sports bars in response to this incident.”
An attorney for diners, Cannon Lambert, told CBS Chicago that they want Buffalo Wild Wings to establish a zero tolerance policy for racism.
“If you engage in bigoted conduct, you shall be fired,” Lambert said.
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