Woman was asked to leave a restaurant because she was wearing a crop top

It’s a huge treat for most people to be able to go out for a meal. Sure, some people get to go more often than others, but for many, it’s something to do to mark a special occasion. Naturally, when you go for a meal out, you want to dress to feel good… Perhaps put something on that you’re not used to wearing to make yourself feel a dash more confident, maybe even a little fierce. Of course, if you’re walking into a restaurant fully clothed, with a respectful attitude, and a willingness to pay, you don’t really expect to come across any issues. You certainly don’t expect to be asked to leave! Safe to say people had something to say about this.

Making it a special day

Getting people together for a family meal can be tough, not everyone’s schedule’s work together, but when you manage to make it work, you have to make sure it’s special. It doesn’t have to be going somewhere expensive, just making great memories with people you love.

Sueretta, her husband, her son, and a few friends decided they would all go for a meal to celebrate the little one’s birthday. It seemed simple enough; the kind of thing that surely couldn’t go wrong.

A reputable place to go

This family was just trying to keep things simple. After all, for them, they didn’t need anywhere fancy, just somewhere they could take their little boy and have a good time. That’s why Sueretta and her husband decided to go to the Golden Corral.

They knew they did good food, they were established, and they were reputable. They could also get all kinds of food, making it an easy place to take children. They went to the Golden Corral based in Erie, Pennsylvania, which seemed like a good decision at the time. However, Sueretta had no idea she was about to be totally embarrassed for something nowhere else would likely have blinked an eye at.

It had been a great day so far

Thankfully the family had an entire day of fun-filled happiness previously. It was actually their son, Aiden’s, birthday the day before, but as these things go, their friends weren’t available until the day after so they held their celebrations off.

However, it proved a good idea at the time. The group had all gone to the zoo and eaten at Chuck E. Cheese, and were soon about to embark on another yummy adventure to Golden Corral. It was a massive shame for the family that it had to end so badly. Hopefully, the incident won’t ruin the memory of the whole day.

Hungry from a full day of fun

The family had enjoyed a brilliant day, but fun is also tiring, and it makes you hungry! Sueretta made sure that her son and his friend had everything they needed. She had gone to get them some fruit and settled them in, everything was winding down.

Once they were fine, she decided it was now time for her to get some food for herself, after all, she deserved to sit down like everyone else, right? Well, it seems that the manager had something to say about that. For some reason, he seemed to feel as if Sueretta shouldn’t be there.

The manager approached her

The store manager seemed to be coming toward her, although she had no idea why he would need to. Confusion ran through her mind as she tried to work out what was going on. She was about to choose her meal as he came up to her.

Out of nowhere, he told her that what she was wearing was not appropriate for this restaurant chain, and that she needed to get changed or leave. Sueretta was absolutely shocked, embarrassed, and upset by this request. The manager was not discreet either! Her words escaped her, she was astounded by what was happening.

She asked what was wrong

Sueretta had gone through the entire day with no issues and no side glances. To her, she was wearing a perfectly normal outfit when it came down to it. She asked the manager what about her outfit was offensive, desperately trying to understand.

She told the manager that they had actually driven over an hour to come to this specific restaurant. He had requested she either change her outfit or leave, but she didn’t have a change of clothes on her.

The manager couldn’t care less

The manager didn’t care about how Sueretta felt at all; he didn’t care that he was embarrassing her in front of the whole store. He also didn’t seem at all worried about how far the family had come, and he didn’t seem to want to find a way to solve this problem that didn’t mean them leaving.

Naturally, Sueretta questioned whether the manager’s claimed were legitimate. She’d never thought they had a dress code, but if they did, she was still dressed like many other people do in summer.

She wanted answers

It’s fair enough to ask exactly what the problem is with her outfit, either to prevent it from happening in the future or to check the legitimacy of the claim. The manager avoided her questions, claiming he had a complaint from a customer and didn’t need to justify himself.

He claimed that the outfit was provocative and repeated that they had had a complaint. The whole thing seemed hurtful and unjustified.

He stuck to his point

Naturally, Sueretta asked why someone else’s opinion meant that she couldn’t have a nice evening meal with her family. She wasn’t breaking any laws, and she later discovered that she wasn’t breaking any dress codes either.

By this point, her husband noticed that something wasn’t right and went to support his wife. However, this made no difference. The manager was sticking to his decision, and the family eventually had to leave. Feeling down and defeated, the family and friends left.

What was wrong with the outfit?

Sueretta wasn’t wearing anything that any other girl or woman wouldn’t wear in the summertime. She may have been wearing a crop-top, but that’s never been a problem before. She was also wearing denim jean shorts, but why was it so offensive?

Both her husband and her friends were absolutely furious for her, and they couldn’t make sense of the situation. It all seemed very hurtful, but they all decided they didn’t want to stay there anyway after that.

It took a lot for her to wear it

People have always argued about what’s appropriate for a woman to wear and what isn’t, which was strange for Sueretta, who had spent her life hiding her body away. She was already out of her comfort zone as she wasn’t used to wearing shorts and a crop top.

However, her husband had empowered her, and she had the confidence to step outside… Only to be broken down by one restaurant’s manager. They decided to share her story to spread awareness.

The story spread quickly

The story actually spread quicker than they thought was possible. People seriously empathized with Sueretta and felt it was out of order for the manager to police her like that. The company experienced some severe backlash online.

They issued a public apology, but really, how did anyone know that they were genuine? They admitted that something had gone seriously wrong and they would be dealing with it. They had an idea of how they would make it up to Sueretta.

Contacted by higher up

No doubt, this was a job for someone with a bit of power. Sueretta nor her family wanted to hear from the manager who had done this to her, not yet at least. She was personally contacted by the regional manager for the chain.

She shared her conversation with the regional manager online, making sure people knew that it wasn’t a company-wide issue. However, the manager had a few ideas on how to improve this issue in the future.

A company overhaul

The regional manager decided that it wasn’t enough to have a simple conversation with the staff at that specific restaurant, but they actually all needed retraining in standards and how to speak to members of the public.

This means that if it were a misunderstanding of the company’s policy, then the entire team would now be on the same page and, if it happened again, would pinpoint and highlight the person who has ignored their training.

Recognition from the original manager

It was one thing to know that they were retraining staff, but what about the person who had made her feel small and insecure? Well, he had to write her an apology letter which also included company gift cards.

While it was nice to receive an apology from the person who had actually treated her poorly, there was something that didn’t sit right with Sueretta after that. They had punctured her confidence and pride, and that would now take time to repair.

The family won’t return

Regardless of the gift cards and the apology, the family won’t be returning to the establishment in Erie, Pennsylvania; there’s no way they would feel comfortable doing that after everything that has happened.

However, the gift cards work all over the country, so at least they are able to head somewhere without the unpleasant manager looking over them. It was nice for the family to receive an apology, but these things shouldn’t be happening in the first place.

It’s not just Sueretta

It’s all well and good being given gift cards and official apologies, but it seems that companies need to be on the same page right at the beginning, preventing this from happening. However, it appears that the restaurant will be watching this issue more closely, thanks to Sueretta.

Unfortunately, though, it’s not the first time a restaurant has asked a woman to leave based on her appearance. Another place decided that they were going to throw a pregnant woman out based on what she was wearing too.

It happened at the Buzz Inn Steakhouse

Perhaps if these ladies were going to a fancy restaurant, it might have made a little more sense, but this keeps happening at your casual, everyday venue. If restaurants were serving people in the height of summer, midday, would they turn business away?

However, one woman was eight months pregnant, with twins, when she went to the Buzz Inn Steakhouse. This establishment didn’t seem to care and even went as far as turning her away.

Trying to have a family meal

One woman, Charisha Gobin, was trying to go out with her family for a meal at this steakhouse when disaster struck. None of them thought anything was going to go wrong, or that there was anything wrong with Charisha’s outfit.

However, before the family could even be seated, a waitress stopped Charisha, explaining that she couldn’t be in the restaurant wearing the outfit she was in. They all thought the waitress was joking, but to their dismay, she wasn’t.

Refused for showing too much skin

Embarrassed and singled out, Charisha couldn’t understand what the problem was. Was her skirt and crop top really that revealing? Her belly was so big at eight months, with two babies in there, that it was hard to find something to be comfortable in.

Many women wear crop tops to dinner, especially somewhere like that. So, was the problem because she was pregnant and her belly stood out? Was it really that offensive? Regardless, she and the family were refused service.

She was following their dress code

The restaurant did actually have a dress code, whereas the previous one didn’t even have that. However, the policy stated ‘no shoes, no shirt, no service,’ which is fair enough. However, this pregnant lady was wearing all of those things?

This made it tough for Charisha to know what made it so offensive for her to wear a crop top to a restaurant. After all, people wore crop tops all the time. She was feeling severely discriminated against.

Letting the world know

Charisha couldn’t just sit there feeling totally embarrassed and singled out, so she decided to share her story online, showing a picture of her outfit. The waitress had claimed that she had violated a health code by having her belly out.

Had Charisha really been in violation of the health code, or was the waitress simply trying to justify her decision by pulling out these so-called policies? Couldn’t this heavily pregnant woman just have her meal and be comfortable?

An apology was issued

Charisha’s post got a lot of online attention from people who felt the way she was treated was simply out of order. This did not go unnoticed by the company, who issued a public apology regarding the incident.

Buzz Inn’s Marysville branch claimed that they were sorry for the misunderstanding and that they would make sure not to overly enforce the rule in future. They explain the policy is there to make sure people feel comfortable.