A Washington, D.C.. Bar was found guilty of racially discriminating against a Howard University graduate by firing her just an hour after she was hired because she was not white!
A federal jury heard both sides of the story, from both Redline owner, Mick Dadlani, and the woman he accidentally hired, Briggitta Hardin and decided that Mick and his company violated the civil rights of Briggitta back in 2010 when Briggitta alleged that Mick refused to speak with her or even shake her hand upon showing up for what she thought would be her first day as a bartender at the bar.
Briggitta is an African-American graduate of Howard University and is now $678k richer due to the lack of professionalism and equality of the bar she was fired from.
Official court records from the seven-day trial show that eight employees, four of which were managers back in 2010, were called to testify about their experiences during their employment with the bar.
Many of those called to question recalled an absence of African-American bartenders and Mick’s not-so-equal employment opportunity throughout his establishment.
Briggitta’s attorney, Megan Cacace said, “Witnesses testified at trial that he wanted to hire white blonde chicks or girls” as bartenders. Whereas Red Line DC and Dadlani’s lead attorney, Sundeep Hora, of the Alderman, Devorsetz & Hora law firm said: “From our perspective, Redline has always been a diverse place. Anyone who walks in there can see that immediately. We are very disappointed in the verdict, and at this point, we are considering all options available to us.”
Other court documents say that Mick and Red Line DC claim that Briggitta being fired was following some legitimate reasons, that they failed to name and that if she did indeed feel discriminated against, she never spoke up to any manager(s). Mick said that Briggatta “did not aid, abet, ratify, condone, encourage or acquiesce in any alleged discriminatory conduct.”
Clearly the jury sided with Briggitta’s claims and from there, she was awarded $175,000 in compensatory damages, $510,000 in punitive damages under federal civil rights law, and $2,000 in punitive damages under the District’s Human Rights Act.
That’s what you call a victory!
Source: The Washington Post, https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/public-safety/jury-finds-dc-sports-bar-redline-discriminated-against-black-bartender/2016/01/27/ec1b7952-c51b-11e5-a4aa-f25866ba0dc6_story.html
TSR intern: Chantel P.! @_popchanny on IG!
