San Francisco Supervisor Accuses Cigar Bar Of Racial Discrimination
SAN FRANCISCO (KPIX 5) -- San Francisco Supervisor Shamann Walton is accusing a downtown cigar bar of racial discrimination following a dispute involving a server at the establishment.
Walton said he and some friends were at the Occidental Cigar Club on Pine St. in the city's Financial District Wednesday evening. He told KPIX 5 he believes the way one of the servers acted toward his group constituted "discrimination and mistreatment."
Walton, who is African-American, said the server had treated his group, who were also African-American men, differently than other white patrons during his entire time in the establishment.
And after his group was finally able to get a table and sit down, the server brusquely ordered his group to move. After he refused to move three times, the server unilaterally closed his tab, Walton said.
"I know the difference between discrimination and bad service," Walton said in an interview. "The way she spoke to us, her tone, her mannerisms, her belligerence was totally different treatment from everyone around us."
Walton wrote the following complaint in a Yelp review:
"We spent over $270.00 (on 1 tab, there were more) with approximately 9 people. The hostess repeatedly informed us that there was a $20.00 per-person minimum. Repeatedly. She did not provide this same reminder to all of the white men and other patrons in attendance. She constantly raised her voice at us and the last straw, asked me and a few of my friends to move at the bar to make space for other white patrons. Please keep in mind we were several professional black men, dressed in suits and other professional attire and we still received this treatment."
The founding partner of Occidental Cigar Club, Curtis Post, told KPIX 5 he tried to call Supervisor Walton to apologize.
Post read from a text he received from the server -- who, like all employees at Occidental, is a part owner of the establishment -- which said that it was a busy night, the bar was crowded, and that she asked the group to make way for other customers but they refused and became upset.
"So I closed them out," read the text from the server.
Post disputed there was anything racial about the interaction.
"Discrimination…That's not what we do here," Post said, shaking his head. "I tried to call the supervisor. That's what you do when you get customers who have had a bad experience. You call and you apologize."
Post said the supervisor had yet to return his calls as of Thursday night.
"I would like to invite him back and buy him a cigar," said Post.
The following is the complete Yelp post from Walton:
As a City and County Supervisor here in San Francisco, through all of my years of dining and patronizing businesses, I have never been susceptible to the type of discrimination and racist treatment I received at Occidental last night. From the moment we walked in, the hostess was rude and aggressive. We spent over $270.00 (on 1 tab, there were more) with approximately 9 people. The hostess repeatedly informed us that there was a $20.00 per-person minimum. Repeatedly. She did not provide this same reminder to all of the white men and other patrons in attendance. She constantly raised her voice at us and the last straw, asked me and a few of my friends to move at the bar to make space for other white patrons. Please keep in mind we were several professional Black men, dressed in suits and other professional attire and we still received this treatment. When I refused to move at the bar (as a paying customer who had been there a couple of hours by this point), she snatched my drink and printed out the tab. I could not believe as a paying customer I was asked to move at the bar to accommodate "other customers" (other white customers I may add). I take this type of treatment and discrimination serious and fight against this everyday. I guess no matter your station, class or presentation, to some people Black men (educated Black men) are to be mistreated, stereotyped and disrespected. I hope that this does not happen to other paying customers at Occidental. I will never return and I will continue to share this story of discrimination and mistreatment with the world. When I asked for her information and the owners, she informed me she was part owner and would not speak with me any further. I finally gave her my card so she could have my information just in case she felt the need to reach out later. This is despicable and hurtful. Even with my thick skin as a sitting supervisor in San Francisco, this type of discriminatory treatment is hurtful and unacceptable. Please remember this post if you think about supporting a business like Occidental.
