(photo via Bahama Breeze)
A Bahama Breeze located in Cleveland, Ohio is being accused of racially profiling a Black sorority after an employee called the cops on the group for allegedly threatening to dine-and-dash.
40 members of the Delta Sigma Theta got together at the Orange Village restaurant on Tuesday to celebrate a book signing. A non-member with the sorority who was reportedly waiting at least 25 minutes for the server to bring the bill insinuated that she was going to leave. She, however, waited and paid her bill with everyone else.
Chante Spencer, a customer, told Cleveland.Com that the manager of Bahama Breeze called the cops and had authorities wait until every member of the sorority paid their bill.
“Police were standing there to make sure everyone paid, which we felt was racial profiling,” Spencer said.
Another member of Delta Sigma Theta Nicole Zeigler, posted on Facebook about the incident and stated her disappointment in Orange Village Officers.
“Absolutely ridiculous! So, tonight my Sorors were at Bahama Breeze Island Grille (suburb of Cleveland) celebrating my line sister’s awesome new book and her exciting move to California and the restaurant called the police because they assumed my Sorors would not or could not pay their bills. They were harassed and publicly racially profiled – the police blocked off their access to move around and through the restaurant and were made to show their receipts to exit the restaurant. #AbsolutelyNot,” Zeigler expressed.
Absolutely ridiculous! So, tonight my Sorors were at Bahama Breeze Island Grille (suburb of Cleveland) celebrating my…
Posted by Nicole Zeigler on Tuesday, June 19, 2018
The police report stated that some of the members threatened to dine-and-dash, used “profanity” towards the manager and caused a “disturbance”. One of the women from the sorority assured authorities that all members would pay their tabs.
Spencer claims the police report is “totally not true” and warps what really happened.
“I am hoping that Bahama Breeze looks at this very carefully and alters policies and does some more training. You cannot make assumptions that people are going to commit a crime based on how they look,” Spencer expressed.
The Senior Director of Communications for Darden Restaurants, which is the parent company of Bahama Breeze said in a statement, “We clearly fell short of delivering great service, and we’ve invited the guests back in order to provide an exceptional Bahama Breeze experience.” The company also added that the manager no longer works at the establishment.
No arrests or disciplinary action took place during the time of the incident.
Bahama Breeze was also was accused of racial discrimination back in 2009 after 37 Black workers claimed the restaurant manager’s used racial language towards them and denied them work breaks. The company dished out $1.26 million to employees, the news source reported.
