Current Events > Restaurant closes after facing backlash for not allowing server to wear BLM mask

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https://local21news.com/news/nation-world/restaurant-closes-after-facing-backlash-for-not-allowing-server-to-wear-blm-face-mask

former waitress Kimi Stout left when she was told she wouldn't be allowed to wear a Black Lives Matter mask at work.

"I would have absolutely abided by the mask rules if they had a sign up that said Black Lives Matter, said Stout.
The restaurant owner on Facebook referring to the incident and Stout's situation saying:
"We did not fire her, we did not force her out, she made her decision to quit. Because she did not want to follow the rules."

A BLM rally is now scheduled for Valentine's Day outside of the restaurant, and the owner says they have received threats of violence and are currently closed.

Yelp has disabled reviews due to hateful comments.

Monday night, many neighbors were in full support of the restaurant.
"Most places, at a winery, at a restaurant, at a hotel, at the airport, you have a uniform. You have certain things that you have to wear to be part of that organization, said neighbor Katharina Baskin.

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Fuck em

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The reddit thread on this story is disgusting btw, I'd avoid it. It's a masturbatory-fest of people shitting on "woke" culture and BLM

"If they were to choose one side or the other, they're going to alienate some segment of the customer base, said Aaron Mills

yeah they might lose out on the Black Lives Dont Matter crowd

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I wonder if it was a MAGA mask if people would feel the same.
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TheGoldenEel posted...

yeah they might lose out on the Black Lives Dont Matter crowd

which doesnt really exist in that area of cali anyway

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Well its their business. When you work in any place you have to follow the rules of that business. Maybe the owners didn't want people wearing political things at the job. Not everyone is a BLM supporter, and if customers come in and don't want that pushed in their faces then its a fair thing

LivingLegend posted...

I would fire you myself for that.

So a BLM mask must be allowed but a MAGA mask is fireable?

Just making sure I have the situation right.
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EffectAndCause posted...

So a BLM mask must be allowed but a MAGA mask is fireable?

makes sense

EricDraven59 posted...

wearing political things at the job.

EricDraven59 posted...

political things

The fact that "please stop killing people that have done nothing to deserve death" turned into a political thing at all is how this whole mess started in the first place. But blame that on the Republican party for sowing so much hatred and division.
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LivingLegend posted...

100%.

MAGA is about white supremacy.

BLM is about equality.

Lmao

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Kobe Bryant posted...

Lmao

2006 account with 11 active posts

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If the rule is no political clothing then this is a non-issue.

TheGoldenEel posted...

2006 account with 11 active posts

dont forget his username

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LivingLegend posted...

100%.

MAGA is about white supremacy.

BLM is about equality.

And some places have a zero political things allowed rule. My job does. Its to try and prevent arguments among staff.

Idk if this place in question had such a rule but if it did I feel it was a fair rule.

I find it funny though im a correctional officer and i was told i couldn't wear a mask that said correctional officer on it cause it was deemed political.

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A better comparison would be someone wearing an "All Lives Matter" or "Blue Lives Matter" mask, not a MAGA mask.

If BLM isn't a political movement and is just about stopping people from being unnecessarily killed, then "All Lives Matter" or "Blue Lives Matter" has to fall under the same definition.

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EffectAndCause posted...

I wonder if it was a MAGA mask if people would feel the same.

one is a globally recognized civil rights movement, the other is headed by a white supremacist sympathizer who incited his followers to disrupt a peaceful transition of power in near universally acknowledged democratic election.

They ain't the same, no matter how Tucker Carlson tells you otherwise

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lolife67 posted...

If the rule is no political clothing then this is a non-issue.

This.

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Its getting outta hand really. Now the protestors wanna cause a bunch of harm to this business, just because the owners were enforcing the company rules. So now what's gonna happen, businesses need to change their rules just to accomodate one person or get canceled?

AngelsNAirwav3s posted...

A better comparison would be someone wearing an "All Lives Matter" or "Blue Lives Matter" mask, not a MAGA mask.

If BLM isn't a political movement and is just about stopping people from being unnecessarily killed, then "All Lives Matter" or "Blue Lives Matter" has to fall under the same definition.

Context matters and it's been proven those "movements" were 1. A literal backlash to BLM and 2. Had more than a fair share of white supremacists within its ranks


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LivingLegend posted...

BLM is not political.

No more political than, say, an American flag pin

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It's definitely a political statement and I can understand why the employers wanted to distance themselves from anything political
Sounds like she was upset her boss didn't make an official statement so she took it upon herself to represent the boss
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LivingLegend posted...

100%.

MAGA is about white supremacy.

BLM is about equality.

Okay got it, I wasnt sure if you had general principles or if you just think your team is better than their team.

Thanks for clearing it up.
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Can we talk about the increase in murder rates in the cities where they protest then?

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LivingLegend posted...

Black Lives Matter is not a political statement.

It is to people who disagree with the statement it seems

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LivingLegend posted...

@Trumble
@mooreandrew58

A lot of people/jobs consider it as such. Why is my job title considered political? Like its literally my job title and I can't wear a mask that says that?

Point is as long as the company is fair across the board on these matters I feel its fine. We where eventually told we could only wear plain colored masks to make it as "fair" as possible.

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Dathrowed1 posted...

Can we talk about the increase in murder rates in the cities where they protest then?

Every city in America had protests.

You're statistically more likely to get killed in a city than not in a city because of the higher population.

What exactly is your point?

EffectAndCause posted...

So a BLM mask must be allowed but a MAGA mask is fireable?

Definitely. It is good for MAGA to get fucked.

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I'm all for supporting BLM, but this is kind of unfair to the restaurant. She was trying to force them to represent BLM in some way. "I would have absolutely abided by the mask rules if they had a sign up that said Black Lives Matter, So basically she would only follow their mask rule if they displayed a BLM sign?

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ShibaToken posted...

Every city in America had protests.

You're statistically more likely to get killed in a city than not in a city because of the higher population.

What exactly is your point?

Umm your point is a red herring. I said an increase in murder rates not that cities have higher murder rates

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Dathrowed1 posted...

Umm your point is a red herring. I said an increase in murder rates not that cities have higher murder rates

Well you're right considering that cops have gotten a bigger persecution complex recently ever since the protests, so the police brutality rate has skyrocketed along with the lack of action when dealing with actual problems in their communities. I'd imagine their incompetence and disregard for the people they are supposed to protect has led to an increased murder rate.

EricDraven59 posted...

Well its their business. When you work in any place you have to follow the rules of that business. Maybe the owners didn't want people wearing political things at the job. Not everyone is a BLM supporter, and if customers come in and don't want that pushed in their faces then its a fair thing

This is actually the most rational post in this topic.

But there are a lot of irrational people around here so.. look out

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NoxObscuras posted...

I'm all for supporting BLM, but this is kind of unfair to the restaurant. She was trying to force them to represent BLM in some way. "I would have absolutely abided by the mask rules if they had a sign up that said Black Lives Matter, So basically she would only follow their mask rule if they displayed a BLM sign?

If you're a business that cant even support its employees decision to recognize a civil rights movement, that's on you. It's like firing someone for wearing a rainbow mask to show support for the LGBTQIA+ community. You deserve public ridicule


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The owner was not only free to not support BLM, but to fire an employee who did

The employee, in turn, is free to bring attention to this to the general public. I, for one, wouldn't want to give my business to a place who treats their employees like that.

What's the problem with that?


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BeantownHero posted...

The owner was not only free to not support BLM, but to fire an employee who did

The employee, in turn, is free to bring attention to this to the general public. I, for one, wouldn't want to give my business to a place who treats their employees like that.

What's the problem with that?

Apparently enough of one for you to make a comment about it?

Masks shouldn't have any slogans on them in the workplace, period.

No MAGA, no FeeltheBern, no BLM, no Thinblueline, no nothing.

You're there to do a job, not spread a message. And on top of that, most workplaces don't allow political or controversial messaging of any kind anyway, so it was likely a violation of the restaurant's rules, same as if it had been a MAGA mask.

Wear your slogan mask on your own time.

This is a fair, next from me.

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IShall_Run_Amok posted...

Definitely. It is good for MAGA to get fucked.

I think MAGA is a poisonous cancer too, but I think someone wearing a MAGA mask and someone wearing a BLM mask should be treated the same by their employer because im not a hypocrite.
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mybbqrules posted...

Masks shouldn't have any slogans on them in the workplace, period.

No MAGA, no FeeltheBern, no BLM, no Thinblueline, no nothing.

You're there to do a job, not spread a message. And on top of that, most workplaces don't allow political or controversial messaging of any kind anyway, so it was likely a violation of the restaurant's rules, same as if it had been a MAGA mask.

Wear your slogan mask on your own time.

This is a fair, next from me.

What if it was a company slogan? Apparently that's better than one that supports human rights?

I'm siding with the restaurant here. I dont support bullying tactics such as this.

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BeantownHero posted...

The owner was not only free to not support BLM, but to fire an employee who did

The employee, in turn, is free to bring attention to this to the general public. I, for one, wouldn't want to give my business to a place who treats their employees like that.

What's the problem with that?

Attitudes like this make BLM come across like religion

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BeantownHero posted...

If you're a business that cant even support its employees decision to recognize a civil rights movement, that's on you. It's like firing someone for wearing a rainbow mask to show support for the LGBTQIA+ community. You deserve public ridicule

It's in the article and right there in the opening post "We did not fire her, we did not force her out, she made her decision to quit. Because she did not want to follow the rules." They didn't fire her, she quit because they wouldn't do what she wanted.

It just seems like they were trying to stay neutral, which, for a small business, makes sense to me. For all we know, the owners are avid BLM supporters, but they want to keep that separate from their business. And most businesses, especially, food service, have rules that prohibit any sort of branding on your work clothes.

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