Ashley Smith wipes away tears as others talk about how she and others were mistreated recently at a Naperville, Ill. Buffalo Wild Wings restaurant. (Paul Valade/Daily Herald via AP) (Paul Valade/Daily Herald via AP)AURORA, Ill. – An attorney representing a group of black customers who say they were asked to change tables at a Chicago-area Buffalo Wild Wings because of their skin color urged the restaurant chain Tuesday to make wholesale changes to avoid a discrimination lawsuit.
Some children who attended the birthday party Oct. 26 in Naperville broke into tears during a news conference. Two of the adult attendees of the party described what happened, and attorney Cannon Lambert laid out a list of hiring and training demands for the company.
Justin Vahl, one of the adults at the child’s party, recalled walking into the restaurant with a group of nearly 20 people – some as young as 5 years old – and the host promptly asking what race he was. When Vahl inquired as to why that mattered, he said the host responded, “We have a regular customer here who doesn’t want to sit around black people.”
“I was appalled,” Vahl said.
Vahl and Marcus Riley, another adult who attended the party, said the group sat down anyway near the customer who levied the complaint. One manager walked over to apologize to the group, but another later said the party had to move to another table because that one was reserved.