Forbes and Burton cafe: Racist allegations investigated by Fair Work Ombudsman
THE owner of a Sydney cafe who refused to hire a man because of his skin colour is being investigated by the Fair Work Ombudsman.
THE Fair Work Ombudsman is investigating a Sydney cafe owner who refused to hire a man because he was black, as tales of flour-bombing and mass boycotts of the business emerge.
Forbes and Burton cafe in the inner suburb of Darlinghurst became the centre of controversy when it was reported by the Daily Mail yesterday that a Brazilian man was refused a job because of his race.
Nilson dos Santos was told by the cafe’s manager, Steven Hu, that his customers would not want to be served “coffee made by black people” when he went in for a job interview on Sunday afternoon.
The usually bustling cafe is facing enormous backlash and was practically empty today as loyal patrons chose to boycott it.
When news.com.au visited, only a handful of customers accompanied the owner Steven Hu, who was being interviewed by Fair Work officers inside the restaurant at the time.
Darlinghurst resident Alan Whelan was one of the few people in the restaurant, and said he would have reconsidered where he had his morning coffee had he known he had chosen the now infamous spot.
A big salute to those Darlinghurst cafe patrons who walked out its racist owner. That's how we roll, Australia.
— Jeremy Fernandez (@JezNews) August 18, 2014
“If I had known that this was the place there’s no way I would have given them my business,” he said.
“I had no idea. I think it’s just appalling and I certainly won’t be returning.”
While the cafe is unusually quiet, its Facebook page is having its busiest day ever. Hundreds of furious commenters have flooded the page attacking the owner and expressing outrage at the racist comments, vowing to boycott the cafe. As well as the onslaught of negative comments, the cafe’s Facebook review rating has gone from five stars to one overnight.
“Not only were you racist towards that applicant for him being black, you were also racist towards white people by falsely assuming that we wouldn’t want to be served by a black barista. Your behaviour was absolutely appalling and unjustifiable. I figure this business won't have any more customers unless it gets new management,” said Facebook user Matt Buckley.
“So ... how’s business today?” asked Bricks Mortar.
“I can’t tolerate racism. Won’t be going to this cafe,” Heidi Robertson wrote.
#Darlinghurst cafe owner who refused to employ man because he's black denies he's #racist http://t.co/n1zi6cAjQM pic.twitter.com/zUW8L4zvhz
— Sandra Sully (@Sandra_Sully) August 18, 2014
Others took their outrage to the cafe itself, apparently flour-bombing the building overnight.
Barista Morgan Knight from nearby cafe the Royal said when he passed Forbes and Burton early this morning the business has been vandalised.
“When we saw it this morning the place was covered in flour,” he said.
“It’s been cleaned up pretty quickly, but it’s all anyone here is talking about.”
The barista said his and other neighbouring businesses might get customers who’ve boycotted Forbes and Burton.
“We probably won’t see a major difference until the weekend but I’ve seen more unfamiliar faces grabbing their coffee here than usual,” he said.
A regular at the cafe who stormed out and lept to the defence of the barista when she witnessed the act on Sunday afternoon said she was pleased to see action had been taken.
“I was there on Sunday and it was horrible,” she told news.com.au.
“No one really knew what was going on. The man came in, spoke to the owner, turned around, and voiced to the cafe ‘Would you have a problem with someone like me serving you coffee?’
“I asked the owner if it was true, I thought he needed an opportunity to defend himself but he didn’t.
“It was completely shocking. It’s also horrible because you don’t think in this day and age where we are that you would encounter something as blatant as that.
“I had to leave, I couldn’t believe what was happening and pretty much everyone else in the cafe got up and took a stand as well.
“I didn’t think there would be as strong a reaction as there has been, but there was a strong reaction at the time and it’s obviously resonated with people. The business is paying for it now. I won’t return,” she said.
News.com.au attempted to speak with Mr Hu. He declined to comment. However yesterday the Daily Mail quoted the manager as apologising to Mr dos Santos.
“Yeah I am so sorry, I apologise for that,” he said.
“I think it’s really bad because maybe people will misunderstand but really I’m not have any racist discrimination I just want to give customers good service.”
