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Thursday, March 28, 2024 | Back issues
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Chain of Sports Bars Accused of Racism

CLAYTON, Mo. (CN) - A popular St. Louis-area sports bar and grill refused to serve black customers and posted "Ghetto Specials" sign, six people claim in court.

Leslie DeLeon and five other plaintiffs say they went to the Hot Shots bar & grill in suburban Bridgeton in two groups, on Oct. 22, 2011.

The first group, of four people, claims they got such poor service that the manager had to assign another waitress to their table. They claim the waitress took an unreasonably long time to come to their table, was rude to them when she finally appeared, then ignored them, even though one plaintiff waived his arms at her like "a crew member waiving an airplane into an airport terminal."

Later that night, the last two plaintiffs arrived. They claim the same waitress refused to serve them and again the manager had to assign them a new waitress.

The restaurant manager told them "that the servers would not serve them because they were 'racist,' that the servers were 'so racist here,' and that 'all white people are racist," the complaint states.

The plaintiffs say the manager told them that he'd been having the same problem all night and pointed to the table with the other four plaintiffs. The second server apologized for the first server's actions, but the manager told them "that he did not know why Server 2 apologized to them because she is 'just as racist' as Server 1," according to the complaint.

The plaintiffs claim the restaurant has a history of racist behavior.

"About a month prior to October 22, 2011, defendant displayed a sign at the same restaurant which announced 'Ghetto Specials,'" according to the complaint.

The plaintiffs seek punitive damages for discrimination in public accommodation. They are represented by Mark Potashnick, with Weinhaus & Potashnick, in St. Louis.

All 10 St. Louis-area Hot Shots locations are named as defendants. Hot Shots' motto is "All the games, all the time."

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