ABC NEWS: A Philadelphia bar actively discriminates against black patrons and employees, banning drinkers who wear baggy clothes and forcing black workers into behind-the-scenes jobs, according to a lawsuit filed by an attorney who moonlights there as a bartender. In a class action lawsuit against McFadden’s Restaurant and Saloon, lawyers for bartender Michael Bolden said they have obtained e-mails and text messages in which managers discuss ways to limit the number of black patrons. “We don’t want black people we are a white bar,” one manager is alleged to have e-mailed another, according to the lawsuit. The class action suit brought against the bar and its parent company, East Coast Saloons, claims that the manager, Walt Wyrsta, was worried the clientele had become too black and chided a white employee for promoting DJs and guest bartenders who were attracting too many black customers. In an e-mail dated Oct. 28, Wyrsta, a general manager, wrote shift manager Kathy Killian to ask about the racial makeup of patrons on Wednesday, Oct. 27. “2 of the [DJ’s] in the battle were black, so it was darker than normal,” Killian replied, in a string of messages about how a regular group of black customers patronizing the bar on Wednesday nights was ruining the bar’s “reputation.” MORE
TANGENTIALLY RELATED: The beating was so violent, police had to edit down the surveillance footage that captured a man beating another man unconscious and stealing his money in Old City Oct. 2. At about 3 a.m. Saturday Oct. 2, the 33-year-old victim was walking from a McFadden’s bar to meet friends when a man asked him for directions on the 400 block of Willow Street. The stranger then beat him unconscious, breaking his nose, his cheekbone and causing concussions and various fractures. The victim only remembers the first punch, but police who watched the unedited surveillance video say the violence of the beating “was enough to turn your stomach.” MORE