Former NBA Player Sues Restaurant for Discrimination

He shoots! He… sues? Former NBA player Joe Barry Carroll is suing the Tavern at Phipps in Atlanta, Georgia with the argument that he and his associate were victims of a discriminatory restaurant policy.

Carroll and his associate Joseph Shaw were escorted out of the upscale bar in August of 2006 when they refused to give up their seats to white women. The restaurant claims they were merely enforcing a “good manners” policy that has been implemented at the restaurant for over 20 years. The bar tender who was serving Carroll at the time claims that there were no other men at the bar. When the two refused to give up their seats, the two were escorted out of the restaurant by security.

Carroll’s attorney Jefferey Bramlett alleges that after interviewing current and former staff of the bar, the restaurant encourages behavior that is discriminatory towards African Americans such as slow-serving blacks during hectic times and systematically limiting the number of black staffers

(via Yahoo! Sports)