Members of an African-American sorority who filed suit against Bahama Breeze last year after being racially profiled at the Orange location have reached a settlement with the restaurant.
Terms were not disclosed but the settlement includes not only financial payouts but moves by the chain to “enhance Bahama Breeze’s existing diversity training curriculum,” according to a release from the Chandra Law Firm, which represented the women.
A refresher for how this came to be: Court documents state the sorority members and their guests waited an hour to be seated despite having a reservation, and then endured glacial and disinterested service throughout the evening. Before most guests had eaten or received checks, a manager called the police to falsely report that the group was threatening not to pay their bill. Another manager stood with officers demanding receipts before these black patrons could leave the room, even to use the restroom. Some guests never even received their food orders.
Add this to the financial penalties paid by Bahama Breeze parent company, Darden Restaurants, which was sued ten years ago for similar behavior and racial harassment and settled for $1.26 million.
This article appears in Apr 24-30, 2019.
This article is based upon the story of the “victims.”
I can recall this incident from memory because it was so flagrant.
The women showed up with far more people than they reserved space for, creating a problem for seating and a shortage of staff.
The women all needed separate checks and because it was taking too long one threatened to leave without paying, prompting others to threaten to do the same. THIS is why police were called. The restaurant was terrified of 30 plus people all walking out at once.
For Vince to craft this drivel based solely upon the testimony of these rude entitled patrons is purely disgusting. This company had to pay a monetary settlement that ultimately rewarded these selfish women for acting like spoiled children.
Hang your head Vince, you’re a divisive disgrace.
I doubt the cops would have stayed had their not been a real threat to safety or paying for their meal.
Great idea though, make a reservation for 5, have 30 show, and shout about how it’s poor service. Result? Comped meals.
The behavior of those “ladies” was inexcusable and disgusting, but SCENE needs to keep beating the dead horses that they’re alweays so fixated on. Gotta find a weekly cause, now that the Wahoo issue is history.
Thank goodness this didnt happen to the City of Cleveland or else we would have been on the hook for yet ANOTHER ma$$ive lawsuit payout!!!
Vince thinks none of the white folks reading have never been in a restaurant with a group of AAs. Lol
This article has been “updated” and was edited to remove a line listing the professions of some of the patrons . I believe the list was “a Judge, a few Lawyer and many Educators.”
Why would this information be omitted if it was deemed pertinent to the story? Did the Chandra law firm have you remove said line because they know the behavior reflected poorly upon those professions and would force people to start facing realities about who is making local decisions that affect thier lives?
Come on Vince, we are dying to know.
Half the story is always told by Vince. Everyone knows the real story. The same scum that plagues the country everywhere. Kids raised without respect for others and lots of liberal lawyers that help keep them that way.
Go back and do some homework, trolls…this wan’t “scum” behaving badly…it was worse than that. It was an “A-A” sorority of professional women, who supposedly should have known better. But they didn’t.
They got shrill and loud and abusive and out of control and were ready to dine-and-dash because the service was poor for a group of thirty when only a third of that number were expected. A walkout would have cost the joint a pretty penny…the servers also end up having to “eat” (no pun intended) the loss of revenue.
So what happened? Same as in baseball…the players perform poorly…but the manager gets fired. Disgusting.
And now, thanks to some slick lawyers, they are even going to get a paycheck for supposedly getting dissed. I’m a member of a minority group, too…how do I go about getting free money like this?
Sign me up! I’m a helluva lot poorer than these witches are!
Rather than try to finish a meal in the middle of all that BS, I’d have gotten a to-go box, paid up, and gotten the ehll out of Dodge. But before leaving, I would have given my name and phone number to the manager and told him: “These customers are behaving like asshats…if this goes to court and you need eyewitness testimony, give me a call.. I’m on your side.”
I hate theme restaurants and I hate corporate eatery chain joints. But I hate rude asshats even more.
The Red Lobster right up the street had an off duty officer working a detail that exact same night……I wonder why.
The truth is revealed. If i were Bahama Breeze i would not cave in to these low class people. It’s not a racial issue, it’s an issue of common sense- and common decency.
p.s. thank God i live on the westsidebestside of town. I don’t see this kinda crap anywhere.
The West Side is not immune from “this kinda crap”…brawls in restaurants…mostly chains patronized by lowlifes…are becoming routine. Fox-8 reports them all the time. Learn how to behave or EAT AT HOME!
How many of the people making negative comments were there that night and saw this all first-hand? How do you know so much? Interesting.
I’ve seen out-of-control “groups” elsewhere…and wisely left before I chose to confront them.
Don’t need to get arrested at this late date in life. I already know what it’s like. Not fun.
Squid, do you really, really need to go to hell to know what happens there?
SOS: Sick of sh*t – it’s wise to know what you’re talking about before you open your piehole. Were you there?
Were YOU?
I’ve spent my whole life in big urban areas up North. I don’t go to chain restaurants anymore because they’re all circuses now And I didn’t need to be there, on that particular evening, to be aware of how chaotic that dump really is. I’ve been there. It’s a f’king zoo. I would never spend another nickel there.
Incidents like this happen at franchised eating places almost every week, and are reported by local news outlets. Try eating a meal at one of these shitholes some time…and maybe you’ll get wised up. And the problem is not merely one of skintone…it’s all about behavior and civility. A-holes come in all shapes, sizes, ages, and colors. I do my best to avoid them, but it gets harder and harder there are more and more of them every day..