Buffalo Wild Wings Employees Fired for Trying to Move Large Table of Black Customers to Appease 'Racist' Regular
Two employees at a Buffalo Wild Wings restaurant in Illinois have been fired after a large group of black people were allegedly asked to move tables so they wouldn't annoy a racist regular customer.
The incident is said to have occurred on October 26 at the Buffalo Wild Wings in Naperville on 75th Street, east of route 59.
According to Mary Vahl, who described the incident in a lengthy post on Facebook, she was part of a group of 18 "mostly consisting of African Americans" who tried to get a table at the restaurant.
After a couple of minutes, one of the hosts asked her husband "what race are you guys?" while trying to organize somewhere for them to sit.
When he asked why that mattered, the worker allegedly told them a table where they were going to be is next to two of their regular customers and "he didn't want us sitting there because he's 'racist.'"
Vahl said they ignored the worker's concerns and sat down at the table near the white male.
"We knew right away who it was because the guy was staring at us the entire time and giving us looks as we were being seated," Vahl added.
"After a few minutes we notice that an employee is talking to the 'racists table' and approaches us and communicates [that] 'these seats are reserved and we will have to move your group.'
"Meanwhile, we've told our waitress what was happening and she makes a comment indicating that she's already aware he's a racist because he's a regular," Vahl said.
"How is an establishment OK with serving people who try to control which types of people sit around them? It was not OK that a person of management was willing to move 6 adults and 12 children versus 2 grown adults who are uncomfortable sitting by black folks."
Vahl added: "If you don't want to sit next to certain people in a public restaurant then you should probably eat dinner in the comfort of your own home."
Vahl said the party eventually decided to leave the restaurant on their own accord and went to nearby Hooters instead.
Vahl also thanked the staff at Hooters for "not being close-minded people that would ruin the night of others."
In a statement to Newsweek, Buffalo Wild Wings confirmed that a service manager and shift manager were fired over the incident:
"We take this incident very seriously and after conducting a thorough, internal investigation have terminated the employees involved," a spokesperson added.
"Buffalo Wild Wings values an inclusive environment and has zero tolerance for discrimination of any kind."
