The refusal of a restaurant in Virginia to serve Sara Sanders and her family is a pretty scummy move. It is one, however, that appears perfectly legal. There is no law in Virginia that requires all customers to be served. There are only certain categories of customers who have that protection. Service cannot be declined on the basis of race, religion, national origin or gender. To be clear, that means that in Virginia it's legal for a restaurant to do what the Red Hen did.
That being said, it's a rather idiotic business move by the restaurant. The yelp page is now filled with political rants, both for and against the place. Most likely, there will be protests against the conduct of the restaurant by a great many people. There is even a move to run a sort of sit in against the place. The recommendation is for people to go to the restaurant, buy only a small purchase like an iced tea and then to sit at the table and sip the tea for two or three hours to deny the restaurant the ability of using that space. There will also surely be groups of supporters who go to the restaurant in the hopes of bolstering the resistance. My guess, however, is that the Red Hen is going to suffer a major loss due to this whole episode.
It would be nice to think that the owner of the Red Hen thought about these consequences before she asked the Sanders family to leave. More likely than not, however, she did not. It's much like many other mistakes; it's something that would be nice to take back, but impossible to achieve.
That being said, it's a rather idiotic business move by the restaurant. The yelp page is now filled with political rants, both for and against the place. Most likely, there will be protests against the conduct of the restaurant by a great many people. There is even a move to run a sort of sit in against the place. The recommendation is for people to go to the restaurant, buy only a small purchase like an iced tea and then to sit at the table and sip the tea for two or three hours to deny the restaurant the ability of using that space. There will also surely be groups of supporters who go to the restaurant in the hopes of bolstering the resistance. My guess, however, is that the Red Hen is going to suffer a major loss due to this whole episode.
It would be nice to think that the owner of the Red Hen thought about these consequences before she asked the Sanders family to leave. More likely than not, however, she did not. It's much like many other mistakes; it's something that would be nice to take back, but impossible to achieve.
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