Two Black workers at an Indiana Olive Garden were allegedly harassed and racially abused during an expletive-laden tirade by a white patron on Saturday reports WEHT.
Evansville, Indiana, Olive Garden hostess Amira Donahue, who is Black, told the local news outlet that a white woman yelled at her and another Black co-worker in the middle of the restaurant before demanding to only be served by a white waitress.
“She stood in the middle of the restaurant and started screaming at me in front of all of the customers. But she asked for a server that wasn’t Black and the manager complied and I do agree that was a bad decision at the moment but there was a better way that could have been handled," Donahue said.
“The lady also made comments about me to another coworker saying that I am not family-friendly and that I should go work at a strip club instead of an Olive Garden. (She asked) am I even black, am I from here, am I from America, just like offhand comments like that and referring me to the ‘other one,’” Donahue added.
The situation started when the white patron asked for a cup of hot water but became enraged for some reason. She demanded the restaurant assign her a white waitress, and the Olive Garden manager complied.
Olive Garden spokesman Hunter Robinson later told WEHT that the company "does not tolerate discrimination of any type" and that an investigation had been started to look into the matter.
Olive Garden corporate tells us the Evansville manager who allegedly accommodated a request by a couple not to be waited on by a black server "no longer works for our company." pic.twitter.com/hkI5t6cZJH
— Randy Moore (@Randy14News) March 3, 2020
Evansville NAACP President Reverend Gerald Arnold said he goes to the Olive Garden often and plans to investigate the situation.
"Me and (the server) were both in tears for most of the day because it was just surprising," Donahue told the Courier & Press, adding that before the woman left, she had the audacity to ask for a refund even though she ate most of her meal.
"We just have this policy where it's like the customer is always right no matter what, so I guess he was just trying to help the customer. We deserve more respect than that. I'm literally a 16-year-old child, and this grown woman was just screaming at me in front of everybody," Donahue said.
The newspaper added that people who were at the restaurant and saw the incident were discussing it on Facebook.
"A few white people come in (and) says that they refuse service from a 'colored' server and asks to speak with the manager. The manager without hesitation ensures that they will not receive service from a person of color," Maxwell Robbins wrote on Facebook after telling the Courier & Press that he went to dinner at the Olive Garden around 5:30 p.m.
Newsweek also captured other Facebook messages and tweets from patrons who saw the interaction and were appalled. Alex Bowles tweeted, "I ate at Olive Garden last night and it looks like that'll be the last time. I have ZERO tolerance for racism or people in charge allowing it."
Both Donahue and Arnold said it was disturbing that instances of racism like this were still happening at this point.
“I would never expect it to be so apparent in public like it’s 2020, not 1920 and I feel like it should take more than social media to get a problem like this out there,” Donahue said.
Newsweek reports the manager who acquiesced to the racist demands has been fired.
