Two Black patrons are pushing for a Michigan restaurant to terminate an employee who allegedly demanded one of them give up her seats for two white men.

Lia Gant says she was getting drinks at J. Alexander in West Bloomfield on Thursday when her friend went to the bathroom. When her friend left, a bartender waved to two white men telling them to take the seat of Gant's friend.

Gant politely told the bartender that her friend had just gone to the bathroom, but the bartender demanded she call her friend immediately and began shouting at her. The bartender took her full drink and threw it away. Then, she allegedly began demanding that she leave.

When Gant tried to speak to another bartender, they allegedly told her she should be happy the drink wasn't thrown on her. Gant held a press conference alongside her lawyer to further explain the difficult situation she had endured.

"Yesterday J Alexander’s protected a customer and employee after I (and several others) were discriminated against. This needs to end. The Manager did not make the situation better, instead she told me to call someone else and she had to protect her employees," she wrote on Facebook.

"I was called out of my name several times as I was trying to exit. I was then told they snuck the thug out the back so he could avoid the police. Wow. This is me recording however I did not know this would come next. I just did not want the African American man attacked by the police, had no idea this was going to happen."

Videos from Gant that were posted to Facebook showed a commotion near the entrance and people pushing her out of the restaurant. A man throws a plate of food at a waiter as Gant fell out of the restaurant.

Jerrick Jackson, another Black man who witnessed the situation, and Gant's lawyer, Maurice Davis, were at the press conference. The two described the chaos of the situation and the unnecessary hostility from the restaurant's white employees.

In a lengthy statement to WXYZ Detroit, the restaurant apologized for the situation but claimed none of their employees were at fault. The restaurant argued that only unruly patrons who threw food were at fault.

"On June 20th at our restaurant in West Bloomfield, Michigan, we experienced an unfortunate incident between guests that disrupted the otherwise pleasant dining environment. No employee of J. Alexander’s used profanity or made inappropriate racial remarks or threw food but certain guests did. J. Alexander’s does not condone such behavior and sought to diffuse the situation," they wrote.

"The police were called by the restaurant to assist with the unruly behavior of the guests. Any guest who threw food was asked to leave and not return. The police are currently investigating the matter and J. Alexander’s is cooperating with the investigation."

Gant and Davis say they were not pursuing a lawsuit but just wanted the restaurant to fire the employee who discriminated against her and started the situation.

“Right now our primary focus is demanding the immediate termination of the J. Alexander employee that refused to serve our client,” Davis said.

racially-motivated

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