A manager of a popular seafood joint in Vancouver, Canada was given a pink slip after he discriminated against a customer in an iconic “Make America Great Again” hat, denying him service because of his political ideology.
Floor manager of the Teahouse in Stanley Park, Darin Hodge, confronted a man who dared to wear a “MAGA” hat in the establishment on Tuesday. He allegedly told the man to take off the hat or leave. When the man told him he had the right to wear the hat, he was refused service and shown the door.
The restaurant’s general manager, Andy Crimp, told CBC News that Hodge “took over the table” when he spotted the Trump supporter “and requested that he take the hat off.” Crimp added that the customer “said he had a right to wear it. [Hodge] said if you don’t take the hat off, we won’t serve you. And the man left.”
In response to the manager’s intolerance, The Sequoia Company, which owns the seafood establishment, terminated Hodge for violating their “philosophy of tolerance.”
“We don’t discriminate against people based on political beliefs,” explained Crimp. “[Hodge] was aware what he was doing was probably contrary to our values and our philosophy as a company in terms of hospitality and inclusiveness.”
Ironically, Hodge maintains that he is the tolerant one, simply standing up to bigotry, saying he has “absolutely no regrets” concerning his decision to discriminate based on political ideology.
“I stand by my decision. The MAGA hat has come to symbolize racism, bigotry, Islamophobia, misogyny, white supremacy, [and] homophobia,” he wrote in a Facebook post, adding, “As a person with a strong moral backbone, I had to take a stand against this guest’s choice of headwear while in my former place of work. Absolutely no regrets.”
Last week, White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders was booted from Red Hen restaurant in Lexington, Virginia because she works for President Donald Trump. After leaving the establishment with her husband, her liberal in-laws, who were also dining with Sanders at Red Hen, walked across the street to a different restaurant. They were reportedly followed by the Red Hen owner and further harassed.