A racist incident took place at an Olive Garden in Evansville, Indiana, on a busy Saturday dinner rush. A woman who was having dinner at the restaurant chain reportedly made racist comments to the black hostess who was on duty. She also asked for a server who wasn't black.
Amira Donahue, the 16-year-old hostess who was working at the time of the incident, talked to NBC News about the unsettling incident. "She made comments about me to my co-workers concerning my race and saying that I should work at a strip club instead," she said during the week of the incident. "She asked if I'm even black and if I am from here."
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Amira said the customer — who was with a handful of other people, including two children — was seated at a table that had a black server. The customer became more and more agitated, then seemed to become enraged, asking loudly for a server who wasn’t black. The manager then obliged the racist request.
The manager has since been fired from the Olive Garden.
The event was obviously really distracting and upsetting to a lot of people who were trying to enjoy their meal at the time. The woman was making a rather big scene and offending the hardworking employees. One patron was so unsettled by the event that he went home and wrote about it on social media to air his frustrations.
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Maxwell Robbins, 22, was the customer who witnessed the entire ordeal. He told NBC News he was disturbed by what transpired. In his Facebook post, he documented what happened. He also says he made several phone calls to the Olive Garden restaurant to complain about what happened.
Maxwell's post got a ton of attention on social media. People were clearly outraged that something like this could happen in 2020. It's shocking that a customer would act this way in the first place. It's even more shocking that such a racist request would be granted.
In the scathing post, Maxwell wrote, "I’m never going back to the Olive Garden in Evansville. 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."
He continued, "That couple should’ve been refused service for even asking something like that!! It’s disgusting that olive gardens manager would allow that especially with a very diverse staff." The post definitely struck a chord. It has since been shared several thousand times.
As for the hostess, she was apparently so upset by the woman's outburst that she started crying. Maxwell says he witnessed this. "The young lady was in tears and had no one to support her," Maxwell said Wednesday. "So I felt if I didn’t write this post, nothing would have happened and she would continue to go to work for a place that she feels uncomfortable at and unwanted at."
Luckily, the story didn't end there. Meagan Bernstein is a spokeswoman for Olive Garden. She said Wednesday the restaurant chain has zero tolerance for discrimination of any kind. Meagan said the company completed an investigation. "As a result of our investigation, we made the decision to separate with the manager involved," she said.
Firing the manager was definitely the right decision. These employees shouldn't have to feel like a customer's racist request is more important than their comfort level going to work. It's despicable that the manager couldn't understand how important it is to stand up for the very people who make the restaurant run.
Maxwell updated his Facebook post to reflect the manager's firing. "Update: The manager in question has been terminated. It seems like Olive Garden made a massive effort to ensure that this will not happen again and one of the girls I have spoken to seems to be in good spirits with the company."
His post continued, "We got done what needed to be done and it shows that we will not stand for any racism around here! I love all of y’all and I just want to say she is the sweetest host I’ve ever met at any restaurant, I’m glad Olive Garden took care of her. I haven’t heard much about the server unfortunately, I hope she is doing much better."
