Author Topic: Morton's Steakhouse apologizes after telling a cancer victim to remove his hat  (Read 574 times)

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Offline Rapunzel

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http://www.foxnews.com/leisure/2013/12/17/morton-steakhouse-faces-firestorm-after-telling-cancer-victim-to-remove-his-hat/

Morton's Steakhouse apologizes after telling a cancer victim to remove his hat
Published December 17, 2013
FoxNews.com

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A Morton's Steakhouse in downtown Nashville has been forced to apologize after one of its waitresses demanded that a man battling cancer remove his hat while at the restaurant.

Over the weekend, Robert Chambers took his employees to the steakhouse for a holiday dinner.  As the group of 14 settled up the $2000 tab, Chambers, who is undergoing chemotherapy, was told he was not allowed to wear a beanie to cover his head because it violated the restaurant's dress code, reports Fox affiliate WZTV.  Chambers says he wore the hat to prevent from getting cold, a side effect of his treatment.

Chambers says he was approached by a manager who told him he should bring a doctor's note or call ahead so that he could be seated in a private dining area.

Witnesses say Chambers took off the hat, but his coworkers quickly came to his defense. Ultimately the police were called in to deal with the dinner party.

Metro Police spokesman Don Aaron confirmed that at about 9:30 p.m., a manager flagged down two police officers and asked them to help get a group to leave the restaurant, reports the Tennessean.

The incident naturally created a firestorm on social media.

"I will never step foot in this establishment along with everyone else who was a part of our party.  And we will spread the word of this terrible treatment until an apology is received.  Unacceptable to say the least," one witness named Ashly posted on Yelp. 

Meanwhile, Morton's went into crisis control.

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MortonsTheSteakhouse @Mortons
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All- we appreciate the tweets/concern over what happened at our Nashville location. We are currently looking into it: http://ow.ly/28Yvdi
12:24 PM - 15 Dec 2013


Late Monday, COO Tim Whitlock personally reached out to Chambers apologize. "There was a complete and total misunderstanding by our staff who had no idea that our guest had a medical condition.  Our actions were uninformed and our intentions were not malicious."

Chambers later posted on his Facebook page accepting Whitlock's apology.

"He was very apologetic and we had a good discussion. End result, Morton's will make a donation in the amount of our check to St Jude's Children's Hospital. Apology accepted time (to) be on. I have more important things to fight than Morton's."
�The time is now near at hand which must probably determine, whether Americans are to be, Freemen, or Slaves.� G Washington July 2, 1776

Offline Cincinnatus

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In my misspent youth I tended bar. One night a guy came in at about 1 am and appeared to be staggering as he reached the bar. I thought he was drunk and refused him service. At that point he got up to leave and I realized he had some kind of physical impairment which affected the way he walked. I felt about 6 inches tall.
We shall never be abandoned by Heaven while we act worthy of its aid ~~ Samuel Adams

Offline NavyCanDo

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I never did understand the no hats at the table thing. The cook by law must wear a hat to prevent hair or dead skin from head scratching from getting into the food.  But once the food is served  you better have your hat off. Maybe so that anything found in your food can be blamed on the customer.

Anyway that's my argument here. I would NEVER have this point of view when my wife gives me that look and I'm coming to the table with a ball cap on.
A nation that turns away from prayer will ultimately find itself in desperate need of it. :Jonathan Cahn

Offline happyg

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In my misspent youth I tended bar. One night a guy came in at about 1 am and appeared to be staggering as he reached the bar. I thought he was drunk and refused him service. At that point he got up to leave and I realized he had some kind of physical impairment which affected the way he walked. I felt about 6 inches tall.

My husband owned a bar, and one night, his cousin was visiting from Cape Cod. She sort of staggered to the restroom, and when she came back, Pat asked how she got drunk so fast. She told him she had MS. He felt like crap, but she laughed it off.

A similar incident happened to me once when the guy had a stroke. He just sat there, and I realized he had a physical problem, apologized, gave him his drink, and went about by business. I chit-chatted with him in between serving drinks, and he became a regular. I never treated him like he had anything wrong with him. He got to know people, and that was that.