Restaurant manager fired for accommodating a bigoted customer's demand

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Checkmite
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When a customer who had just been seated at an Indiana Olive Garden found out that her server was going to be a black woman she caused a scene, making comments about the server's race and appearance and loudly demanding a non-black server instead. The restaurant manager immediately acquiesced to the demand and reassigned a different waitress who wasn't black to the table.

It was actually a nearby-seated customer who witnessed the entire incident and was so appalled by both the customer's behavior and the manager's instant accommodation of it that he took to both the company's complaint line and social media to bring public notice to the situation.

Robbins wrote in his Facebook post that the customer should’ve been refused service for even making such a demand and that it is "disgusting" that the manager would honor it, especially considering the restaurant's diverse staff.

Donahue [the black server who was yelled at] said she was so upset by the incident that she began crying, which Robbins said he witnessed.

"The young lady was in tears and had no one to support her," Robbins said Wednesday. "So I felt if I didn’t write this post, nothing would have happened and she would continue to go to work for a place that she feels uncomfortable at and unwanted at."

Donahue said the manager made a decision that the customer was more important than two of his employees.

Meagan Bernstein, a spokeswoman for Olive Garden, said Wednesday the restaurant chain has zero tolerance for discrimination of any kind. Bernstein said the company completed an investigation Monday.

"As a result of our investigation, we made the decision to separate with the manager involved," she said.
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Although the restaurant's staff as noted was quite diverse, that doesn't necessarily indicate that the manager him/herself isn't particularly bigoted, and I really can't say either way without more information. Regardless, it is indeed disgusting that they didn't even hesitate to hang their own employees out to dry in the face of such overt and abusive racism at the hands of a "customer". I have to commend the other patron for making the incident public, and I think firing the manager was a fair and correct decision on the part of the company.
 
Fair play to the person for posting about it on their social media.

But I keep seeing these threads and wondering why Americans don't actually intervene at the time.
 
cullennz said:
Fair play to the person for posting about it on their social media.

But I keep seeing these threads and wondering why Americans don't actually intervene at the time.
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Don't want to be shot during any ensuing altercation ?
 
This is bad policy anyway. The restaurant has the duty to provide a workplace that is free from unlawful discrimination. It's their legal duty to not cater to such demands.
 
Disgusting. People eating at Olive Garden? I got dragged to one for a work lunch in 2001 and someone found a live worm in the salad. The manager confessed they just buy salad pre-mixed and dump it in bowls. So we burned a cross on the restaurant lawn, and rightly so.
 
Didn't plantation owners in the South usually have black cooks, servants and other black house slaves?
The degree of racial tolerance it must have required ...
 
I'm not going to assume any racism on the manager's part. I would say it was more of a situation where they hadn't had to deal with it before, panicked and made a bad choice. I'd be interested to see the history of that particular restaurant but once something like this happens the reviews generally go to hell. Considering it's an Olive Garden I can't imagine they were topping the charts as it was.

It was the wrong decision, I'll give the manager that but if an old lady is losing her mind in the middle of the room. Sometimes it's easier to just quiet them down. We do it as parents with screaming children knowing it's not right with them either as it is viewed as rewarding their behavior. I hate old people and children alike, I would throw both out in a heartbeat.
 
Agreed. Most restaurant managers operate on 'the customer is always right no matter what' philosophy, and work to keep things quiet and cash flowing, not make principled stands and loudly eject customers in front of other customers.
 
"The customer is always right, even when they are being racist" and is a racist policy.

I'm always disappointed that nobody ever just decides to completely screw with racist. If I were the manager I would have absolutely agreed and then sent out another black employee. Then another. All while telling them I totally understood their complaint and I would absolutely comply. Eventually I have to send the first black employee back out, but I would loudly insist it was a different black person.
 
Thermal said:
Agreed. Most restaurant managers operate on 'the customer is always right no matter what' philosophy, and work to keep things quiet and cash flowing, not make principled stands and loudly eject customers in front of other customers.
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A lot of that springs from corporate though, they may just have been so used to being overruled by a policy from head office, dictated by a person who 'learnt' about customer service but has never held a customer facing job in their short career...

Corporate normally sets the tone so their's a reasonable chance the guy was hosed either way
 
Mongrel said:
A lot of that springs from corporate though, they may just have been so used to being overruled by a policy from head office, dictated by a person who 'learnt' about customer service but has never held a customer facing job in their short career...

Corporate normally sets the tone so their's a reasonable chance the guy was hosed either way
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Yeah. I doubt most chains have a 'and this is how we handle racist douchebags once they are seated' course. Management was screwed as soon as the dirtbags got vocal. The manager doesn't want a scene, just needs to get their money and get them out without disrupting other guests.
 
plague311 said:
I'm not going to assume any racism on the manager's part. I would say it was more of a situation where they hadn't had to deal with it before, panicked and made a bad choice. I'd be interested to see the history of that particular restaurant but once something like this happens the reviews generally go to hell. Considering it's an Olive Garden I can't imagine they were topping the charts as it was.

It was the wrong decision, I'll give the manager that but if an old lady is losing her mind in the middle of the room. Sometimes it's easier to just quiet them down. We do it as parents with screaming children knowing it's not right with them either as it is viewed as rewarding their behavior. I hate old people and children alike, I would throw both out in a heartbeat.
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Enjoy your present age. ;)

Hans
 
plague311 said:
I'm not going to assume any racism on the manager's part. I would say it was more of a situation where they hadn't had to deal with it before, panicked and made a bad choice. I'd be interested to see the history of that particular restaurant but once something like this happens the reviews generally go to hell. Considering it's an Olive Garden I can't imagine they were topping the charts as it was.

It was the wrong decision, I'll give the manager that but if an old lady is losing her mind in the middle of the room. Sometimes it's easier to just quiet them down. We do it as parents with screaming children knowing it's not right with them either as it is viewed as rewarding their behavior. I hate old people and children alike, I would throw both out in a heartbeat.
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Agreed, on zero evidence I am assuming that Corporate's mantra is "The customer is always right" and will always throw employees under the bus when receiving complaints, from whatever source and for whatever reason.*

When you say it was the wrong decision, I have to agree from a moral point of view but from an employees point of view there was no right decision. The Manager had to purely guess who was likely to complain and from what perspective.

* This is my own personal knee jerk prejudice based on 15 years working the Food and Beverage side of Hospitality.
 
Thermal said:
Yeah. I doubt most chains have a 'and this is how we handle racist douchebags once they are seated' course. Management was screwed as soon as the dirtbags got vocal. The manager doesn't want a scene, just needs to get their money and get them out without disrupting other guests.
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I have nothing to support this but I can't imagine the age of the average Olive Garden manager is one of much experience either. If it were me, at my current experience level (38, if anyone is curious), I would be all about kicking her out with a stern, slightly condescending tone. At least then if you get fired you can file a wrongful termination civil case. If you have the employees supporting you because you defended them, which is the right thing to do, you might walk away ahead.

MRC_Hans said:
Enjoy your present age. ;)

Hans
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I can't. I have teenagers.
 
plague311 said:
I have nothing to support this but I can't imagine the age of the average Olive Garden manager is one of much experience either. If it were me, at my current experience level (38, if anyone is curious), I would be all about kicking her out with a stern, slightly condescending tone. At least then if you get fired you can file a wrongful termination civil case. If you have the employees supporting you because you defended them, which is the right thing to do, you might walk away ahead.
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I'm thinking a manager's safest bet might be to say 'I'm sorry ma'am, your request may actually be illegal, and we are unable to comply with your wishes. Would you still like to dine with us or shall we get your coats?'
 
Thermal said:
I'm thinking a manager's safest bet might be to say 'I'm sorry ma'am, your request may actually be illegal, and we are unable to comply with your wishes. Would you still like to dine with us or shall we get your coats?'
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And that will now be on page 256 of the next Olive Garden Manager Training Manual that no Olive Garden manager will ever read.
 
Thermal said:
I'm thinking a manager's safest bet might be to say 'I'm sorry ma'am, your request may actually be illegal, and we are unable to comply with your wishes. Would you still like to dine with us or shall we get your coats?'
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Bah, ********.

"I'm sorry, maam, is there a problem with your service?"
"Have you had a problem with this server's service in the past?"

"No, I just don't like black people"

"Ms. Y is an outstanding server. If her service is not acceptable for you, you are free to choose to dine elsewhere."

Come on, what's going to happen? The customer is going to write a bad review on YELP? What do they say, "The restaurant would not comply with my insistence to not have a black person waiting on me"?
 
Honestly, I could easily be persuaded that everyone's the victim here.

The racist customer, to say something like that loudly in 2020 could very probably be dealing with mental illness or dementia.

The manager made the wrong move, but being blindsided by a weird happening and not knowing which move would make the company thrown them under the bus could very easily have prompted a "Let's just try to keep eveyone calm" reaction. Most people in service jobs have extensive practice accomodating bad behavior in customs just to keep the peace and that may be an automatic mode when dealing with conflict. Some people say they could have sued the company if fired for kicking out the customer. Who pays their rent while that law suit is stretching out? And if it's a right to work state and the company articulates their decision with more nuance than "We fired you for not doing what a racist said" is victory guaranteed? Is a next job guaranteed even if they get a payout? Suing is not an easy thing to pursue.

Obviously the server had to go through this too.

Just everything awful.
 
Posit: The only evidence of this event is a lone diner's facebook post. Restaurant management has been shown in other stories to fire first and ask questions later (BWW, Chipolte, etc). Lone diner/posters may be disgruntled, pot-stirrers, liars, or just wrong. Are the vaunted skeptics of the forum ready to drop the gavel here? Enough evidence presented for a conclusion?
 
pgwenthold said:
Bah, ********.

"I'm sorry, maam, is there a problem with your service?"
"Have you had a problem with this server's service in the past?"

"No, I just don't like black people"

"Ms. Y is an outstanding server. If her service is not acceptable for you, you are free to choose to dine elsewhere."

Come on, what's going to happen?
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The customer starts screaming in the middle of the restaurant, and you have to call the cops to drag them out of there.

Here's the thing: when **** hits the fan, that makes a miserable dining experience for everyone there. And that's bad for business. It doesn't matter if you can blame the racist customer, the fact is that the other diners at your establishment had a bad time. That can keep them from coming back, regardless of the reason.

The customer is going to write a bad review on YELP? What do they say, "The restaurant would not comply with my insistence to not have a black person waiting on me"?
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No. For a Yelp review, you say the service sucked and the food was terrible. It doesn't matter if that's your real complaint, that's still the review you leave if you want to hurt the place.
 
Cavemonster said:
Honestly, I could easily be persuaded that everyone's the victim here.
...
Just everything awful.
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Yeah, pretty much. I have an easy time accepting the manager made the wrong call, but I don't think it's reasonable to expect people to always make the right call under unreasonable conditions, and this customer created unreasonable conditions.

The one caveat I have to your post is that if the customer was suffering from mental problems (quite possible but not guaranteed), it isn't the restaurant's responsibility to accommodate those problems. But I'm sympathetic to the impulse to just not make a scene.

Mike! said:
Ah, the classic Olive Garden Kobayashi Maru test.
The manager should have reprogrammed the simulation and made the customer blind.
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Good call.
 
Ah yes the "I can't be expected to not be racist if I'm under stress!" argument.

Yes you can. It's not hard at all.

Here's an idea, maybe not being racist is something you can just like... default to.
 
Mike! said:
Ah, the classic Olive Garden Kobayashi Maru test.
The manager should have reprogrammed the simulation and made the customer blind.
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You're not supposed to blind the customers, it's an unwritten but very important rule in customer service. I just can't work under such strict conditions so I went back to school. Now I don't do customer service and can blind whoever I want.
 
Ziggurat said:
The customer starts screaming in the middle of the restaurant, and you have to call the cops to drag them out of there.

Here's the thing: when **** hits the fan, that makes a miserable dining experience for everyone there. And that's bad for business. It doesn't matter if you can blame the racist customer, the fact is that the other diners at your establishment had a bad time. That can keep them from coming back, regardless of the reason.
.....
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A manager in a high-volume place like an Olive Garden should be trained to deal with unreasonable patrons. Suppose the issue wasn't race. Suppose the customer was a belligerent drunk? Suppose he was making outrageous remarks about every woman he could see? Suppose he was overly "friendly" toward children? The manager would be required to deal with it, and it wouldn't be by accommodating the customer. In this case, I could imagine the manager saying something like "Let me move you to another table," and quietly marching her out the door. If the cops need to be called, so be it. The other diners might have enjoyed the excitement.
 
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If the customer was mentally ill she should have had someone with her to mind after her or she should have, at the very least, worn her "Racist when shaken" T-Shirt.
 
A link, with the server interviewed. Excellent.

Donahue says the manager complied with the request for a not black server, but that the bigot laid into her and started screaming...later? Not sure I get that part.

eta: got it. Donahue was the hostess, and she and the server were both berated loudly, but after the demand was met.
 
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Thermal said:
Posit: The only evidence of this event is a lone diner's facebook post. Restaurant management has been shown in other stories to fire first and ask questions later (BWW, Chipolte, etc).
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Well, no. That's not true, according to Today:

It was also been seen by Amira Donahue, the Evansville Olive Garden hostess, who, in addition to another young female server, said she was targeted by the white couple.
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It appears the story is confirmed by the employees (two of them). One of them went further:

"Racism is still prevalent in 2020! After years of experiencing micro aggressions and attitudes simply because of my color; I never thought I would be publicly embarrassed like I was yesterday. To be told that 'i should work at a strip club instead' was over the top. People don’t understand we’re not only children, but humans with feelings regardless of color," Donahue wrote on her own Facebook page.
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It also appears as if Olive Garden started an investigation the day the post went up and it just completed on Monday. It doesn't appear, to me, to have been a knee jerk firing. They looked into it.

Thermal said:
Lone diner/posters may be disgruntled, pot-stirrers, liars, or just wrong. Are the vaunted skeptics of the forum ready to drop the gavel here? Enough evidence presented for a conclusion?
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There's never going to be definitive evidence to your standards, from what we've seen. Which is required to be absolutely complete without even a possibility of any other explanation taking place, no matter how unlikely.

So no, the answer for you will be forever, no. To me, there is all of the evidence corroborating one story, and not a single person is saying anything to the opposite.

eta: Got in after your post because my co-worker can't shut up.
 
Bob001 said:
A manager in a high-volume place like an Olive Garden should be trained to deal with unreasonable patrons.
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Should they be trained for that? Perhaps. Were they? I suspect not.

Suppose the issue wasn't race. Suppose the customer was a belligerent drunk? Suppose he was making outrageous remarks about every woman he could see? Suppose he was overly "friendly" toward children? The manager would be required to deal with it, and it wouldn't be by accommodating the customer.
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It's a much easier call when the conflict is directly with other customers than with the staff.
 
plague311 said:
If the customer was mentally ill she should have had someone with her to mind after her or she should have, at the very least, worn her "Racist when shaken" T-Shirt.
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True, but if you're dealing with mental illness to the extent that you're not in great control of your behavior, I'm not sure blaming them for not having the proper support system is helping matters much. That's on the broader system and their family.

My uncle towards the end of his life became obsessed with what he saw as the terrible danger of Islam. Then they found a brain tumor that had been growing for about the duration of his obsession. But for a few years he was out walking around being treated as just a guy with strong angry opinions.

You'd see him at a wedding and ask how he was doing "Fine except for the problem of Islam".
 
plague311 said:
Well, no. That's not true, according to Today:
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Glad to see you caught up in your eta :)


There's never going to be definitive evidence to your standards, from what we've seen. Which is required to be absolutely complete without even a possibility of any other explanation taking place, no matter how unlikely.

So no, the answer for you will be forever, no. To me, there is all of the evidence corroborating one story, and not a single person is saying anything to the opposite.

eta: Got in after your post because my co-worker can't shut up.
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My standards are pretty low for evidence, but not nearly as low as others have. 'Somebody says on facebook' is never enough. Interviews, some impartial witnesses, maybe a police report or video, and that is quite satisfactory. Otherwise, it's just projection and confirmation bias. That's good enough for you?
 
Cavemonster said:
True, but if you're dealing with mental illness to the extent that you're not in great control of your behavior, I'm not sure blaming them for not having the proper support system is helping matters much. That's on the broader system and their family.
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There were other people with her. She wasn't isolated or anything. According to all articles the woman was with family and they just let her go off. That signals to me that this either isn't abnormal for her, or they agree with it. There aren't many other explanations. If it was part of an underlying condition you'd think the family would say, "I'm so sorry, let me change get her out of here."

Ziggurat said:
Should they be trained for that? Perhaps. Were they? I suspect not.
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Even if she was trained, it's something you can forget if you don't use it. I don't go to Olive Garden because...many reasons, but I can't imagine there is a whole lot of conflict happening. Maybe some "Karen's" sending back salads, or a wine drunk being a douche, but nothing to the level of "racist screaming in the lobby" type of behavior. If you're not used to it, and you don't have to manage that behavior, even training can be forgotten.
 
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