Buffalo Wild Wings fires workers who allegedly made a family move because they're black

Several Buffalo Wild Wings employees have been fired from an Illinois location after allegedly asking a black family to move in order to accommodate a regular customer who didn't want to sit near black people, according to the Naperville Sun.

Justin Vahl said he was at the Buffalo Wild Wings restaurant in Naperville with family and friends for a children's birthday party. During the process of getting the group of 15 seated, he said a host asked him what his race was, and a manager eventually made them move under the guise of needing that table for a larger party.

The company issued a statement announcing the firing of the involved employees.

"We take this incident very seriously and after conducting a thorough, internal investigation have terminated the employees involved," the statement read. "Buffalo Wild Wings values an inclusive environment and has zero tolerance for discrimination of any kind."

How it happened

When Vahl arrived at the restaurant to request a table, he said a host — a young, black male — asked him what his race was. When Vahl asked why that mattered, the host told him about a regular customer who didn't want to sit by black people. Vahl said he told the host he would not move for that reason.

Vahl said a manager spoke to the regular customer and then made Vahl's group move, saying the restaurant needed the table to accommodate a reservation for a group of 18 people. However, the Naperville Sun confirmed that the restaurant doesn't take reservations.

Marcus Riley, a father with the group, said he and the rest of his party eventually left and went to another restaurant after multiple managers approached them to try to convince them to move. He said the worst part about the experience was trying to explain to his children what happened.

"I've never in my entire life experienced something like. To have my children go through that, it brought me to tears," Riley said.

(H/T: The Hill)