INQUISITR.COM / News & Politics

Black Man Sues Oregon Restaurant After They Made Him Pre-Pay For Meal ‘Because He Was African-American’

By Tara West
Published on: 13:33 PST, Oct 30, 2015

An Oregon realtor, Brian Easton, is suing Elmer’s restaurant after he claims he was made to pre-pay for a meal simply because of his skin color. Easton says he went to breakfast at Elmer’s restaurant in Vancouver, Washington, one morning where he sat down to write out Christmas cards. However, upon ordering, Easton was told he needed to pre-pay. He claims that the waitress apologized for the “discriminatory” practice but said it was required by the establishment. Now Easton is suing the company which is based out of Portland, Oregon, for $100,000 in a discrimination lawsuit.

The Daily Mail reports that Brian Easton, a realtor, is suing Elmer’s restaurant for $100,000 for what he described as “discriminatory practices.” Easton claims that he was asked to pre-pay for his meal at the restaurant because he was African-American. The realtor says that he initially just pre-paid the bill as requested but later returned to ask the manager about the policy. When he returned, Easton claims there was a white couple seated in the restaurant. He asked if they had to pre-pay for their meal and they said that they did not. Therefore, Easton says he was targeted for pre-payment because he was an African-American man.

Greg Kafoury, Easton’s lawyer, says that the lawsuit was not the first reaction of his client. However, his client wants to ensure that young black kids know that they don’t have to “take” discrimination. He, instead, wants them to know that they can fight discriminatory practices.

“It’s important that young black kids grow up in a world where they know that when they are discriminated against they don’t have to take it. That was an important part of his decision to file a lawsuit.”

The lawsuit court documents show that Easton is not only suing the Vancouver franchise but also the Portland-based headquarters. The papers indicate that Brian was asked to pre-pay by his waitress named Hope at the demand of the on-duty manager. It was also noted that other Caucasian patrons to the establishment were not asked to pre-pay.

“The plaintiff asked why, and the waitress explained that she was acting on instructions from the owner, a woman later identified as Lewis. The waitress apologized, acknowledging that the policy was racist but continuing to demand prepayment. The plaintiff prepaid as was demanded of him.”

Though Easton claimed that Caucasian customers were not asked to pre-pay, the owner of the restaurant says there was a good reason for the differences in treatment and it had nothing to do with race. The Washington Human Rights Commission dropped the case after speaking with Karson, the company that owns Elmer’s. Karson says that Easton was asked to pre-pay because he chose to take a seat in the restaurant’s lounge instead of the main restaurant dining area. Karson says that the company has had issues with patrons ordering food in the lounge and leaving before paying. Therefore, all lounge customers, regardless of skin color, are asked to pre-pay for food. Karson also noted that when Easton returned to ask the Caucasian couple if they had to pre-pay for their meal, he did not account for the fact that the couple was seated in the main dining, not the lounge.

Despite Karson’s response, Easton is convinced the pre-payment was demanded due to his skin color noting the response for the waitress when asked about the pre-payment.

What do you think about the lawsuit? Do you think Elmer’s restaurant intentionally singled-out Easton due to his skin color, or do you believe the restaurant’s claims that he was only singled-out because he was seated in the restaurant’s lounge area?

[Image via Elmer’s Restaurant/ Facebook]

Share this article: Black Man Sues Oregon Restaurant After They Made Him Pre-Pay For Meal ‘Because He Was African-American’
More from Inquisitr