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*A Canadian restaurant must pay $10,000 Canadian dollars to a black customer after forcing him to prepay for a meal, while allowing non-black patrons to pay afterward.
The Ontario Human Rights Tribunal has ordered Hong Shing Chinese Restaurant in Toronto to compensate Emile Wickham for racially discriminating against him and his friends.
Wickham was celebrating his 28th birthday with three friends at the restaurant on May 3, 2014. They were the only black people in the restaurant, Wickham said, and they were stunned when the waiter demanded they pay before they were served.
When the group complained, they were told it was policy, according to their testimony.
“I still felt skeptical, so then I approached other tables,” Wickham told CNN. No one else he spoke with had been asked to prepay, he said.
“There was frustration initially. And that frustration turned into a feeling of dejection and sadness,” he said.
Nearly a year after the incident, Wickham, who is originally from Trinidad and Tobago, couldn’t shake what went down. He decided to file a complaint with Ontario’s Human Rights Tribunal.
The restaurant said it had seen an influx of dine-and-dash incidents, and that it asked customers who weren’t “regulars” to prepay, according to the ruling.
But adjudicator Esi Codjoe wasn’t buying it. She found no evidence such a policy was real and ruled the restaurant had racially profiled the students.
In a statement to CNN, Hong Shing Chinese Restaurant said it will appeal the decision, and noted that management has since changed.
“There are a number of sensitivities and considerations about this situation, and for that reason, the tribunal outcome is under appeal by legal representatives. At this time we cannot comment further, beyond emphasizing that the current owner and staff are dedicated to be a committed, inclusive and responsible member of the community.”
Wickham said he will continue to fight his case if needed.
“It happens in our daily life, work life, social activity,” he said. “The average Canadian never calls themselves racist, but if a significant part of the population have legitimate stories of being discriminated against, this has to be seen beyond the scope of a restaurant claim.”
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