Michael Bolden, a bartender at McFadden's Restaurant and Bar, who is also a lawyer, claims that the bar engaged in practices to deter non-white customers from patronizing the restaurant.Bolden alleges that the bar's general manager told a supervisor to halt a promotion aimed at bringing black customers to the restaurant, purportedly saying that "we don't want black people, we are a white bar." He also claims that the restaurant's policies banning baggy clothing, work boots and white T-shirts discourage black patrons from entering the bar.
"Having worked in the business for several years, it is clear to me that places often create a culture of exclusion in many ways, including dress codes, marketing or policies followed by the security staff. The one constant is that it is often subtle, behind the scenes and typically not written down," the plaintiff told the news source.
An attorney for the East Coast Saloons, the parent company of McFadden's, told the Philadelphia Inquirer in an e-mail that his client denies any wrongdoing.