Brian Eason, a Black man living in Washington state, has launched a $100,000 racial discrimination lawsuit against a local restaurant. Eason alleges that the Vancouver, Wa. Elmer’s establishment made him prepay for breakfast while white patrons were able to pay after dining.
The Oregonian reports:
Brian Eason had gone to the Elmer’s on Dec. 16, 2014, to find a quiet place to eat and write Christmas cards to his clients, according to a lawsuit filed Tuesday in Multnomah County Circuit Court. Eason, 44, is a real estate agent, as well as a deputy with the Multnomah County Sheriff’s Office.
Eason’s suit claims that a waitress took his order, then “demanded that he prepay for his meal.”
“I was kind of curious about it and said ‘Well, is that new?’ And she said ‘Yes, we had a few walk-aways and my boss asked me to ask for prepayment,” Eason told The Oregonian/OregonLive on Wednesday.
Eason didn’t think anything of it, he said, until he later ordered another drink and the waitress again wanted prepayment.
“I said ‘This is kind of odd that I have to prepay every time I order my food and drink,'” Eason recounted. “She said, ‘I think it’s discrimination and my boss is here, and she’s forcing me to have me do this.'”
Eason stated that after the server told him of the manager’s discriminatory tactics, he spoke to other white diners in the restaurant and asked if they were made to prepay. After discovering they didn’t have to do so, he took the contact information and slept on it.
Eason said he took the matter to his family, who encouraged he enact the lawsuit against Elmer’s. Representatives for Elmer’s said that they’re looking into the matter but had no response for Eason’s lawsuit.
Watch a video report of Brian Eason’s lawsuit against Elmer’s courtesy of KGW.
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Photo: KGW
