Legally does one "HAVE" to wait on a particuliar customer??

Question

There's a woman who comes into a restaurant and my sister says this woman is almost ALWAYS mean to her.
This customer does innopriate things like barge into the kitchen to ask for something [at an unreasonable amount of time, like 5 min. later, asking for something]
I think my sister feels abused verbally because this customer has also humiliated her in front of other customers yelling at her waving her check around wanting to pay [even tho she didn't have to wait long]--it's just that obviously other guests come in for dinner.
The owners told her she didn't have to wait on this rude woman, that the bartender could instead. However what if there's no one else there but her? does she have to wait on the b*tch, legally?
does she have a right to yell BACK at the loose cannon?

Answer 1

Any MANAGER who allows an employee to continually be abused by a "steady customer" without saying something to that customer SHOULD be fired....the employees responsibility should stop at telling his or her manager that this customer is being continually abusive...... the next time after that the customer comes in, BEFORE a waiter approaches her table, the MANAGER should go to the table and tell this customer that there have been SEVERAL reports of her being abusive to the staff and that if she is abusive one more time she will not be allowed back into the restaurant and refused service again. AND, the manager should follow through with this warning... if not, then the manager has absolutely no credibility and should be GONE... I don't care WHAT job a person does---that person does NOT deserve to be treated like a personal slave by ANY customer...

Answer 2

no she doesn't have to wait on this woman. As a matter of a fact your sister can and should get togethter with the other members of the staff and see who else is having a problem with this woman. If is more than one the staff should and has a legal right to go to the manager and ask the manager to step in(they should also be able to do this without fear of retallitation) The manager should make it a point when he sees this woman coming(he may also need a lookout)to pull this woman to the side and have a talk with her explaining that he will not allow her to harrass his staff(If he is worth anything as a manager and takes his job seriously he should take the initative on this because this would be showing his employees that he cares and supports them if they are in the right.) If he doesn't do this then his supervisor should be contacted and have the situation explained to him/her(on this someone take notes so in case the manager wants to retiliate you can have proof) Then if this person doesn't want to do this the next in line should be contacted(If anyone of the staff hours are cut or they are retilated against at any point in time they can report the people(s) to the attroney general office(a little known fact is that all managers have in any industry what is called management standards of praotice which says that the manager will conduct themselves in ways that are apporaiate to their suboriantes) This woman can be refused service(yes you heard correct she can be refused service if she comes in and acts like this and doesn't have any intention of correcting her behavior) If your sister or the other staff notice that management has no intention of correctiing this situation I would contact the attroney general office in my area. I would send them a certified letter with a return receipt of all documentation of who you have talked with and what steps have been taken and what has and hasn't been done. I would also become very familiar with my attroney general office and let them become familiar with me because they won't pursue the issue too much unless you pursue them(yes drop a letter in the mail to your local federal elected offical with all documentation) Also I would have your sister contact the national labor relation board(go to the website) Also go to consumerprotectionagency.com or .org for some good information. If things don't get better and I was you I would have no problem in dropping a tip to my state health board and I would make sure that I would give them some juicy details(anomyously of course) I may have said this before but in case I didn't I would add that if anyone in management doesn't do anything to help their staff then it goes to show you that all the managers care about is the almighty dollar and to help change their prespective if the staff were to get together and not work for a couple of days then that may very well change the hearts of the managers. If this happens then when everyone does come back have a tv crew there with a reporter and let the good times roll

Answer 3

Sounds like someone needs to step up and take charge of the situation. It should be the owners not your Sis...
Tell her to let the bartender take over when this overly rude lady comes in. My guess is that even that person will only put up with so much and then theres No one...
It doesn't sound healthy for this lady to be barging into the kitchen whenever she pleases and demanding stuff on top of it!!
If she's stopped and doesn't like the "New" service (or, Non service ~ then they should suggest strongly that she go elsewhere.....

Answer 4

There could be a problem in refusing to wait on the woman if she is a member of what the courts call a "suspect class" meaning if she is a member of such a class, you suspect that was the reason for your sister refusing to wait on her. Suspect classes include, race, religion, disability, national origin, sexual orientation for starters. Your sister might not even know that this woman is a member of a suspect class, at least until the restaurant is sued for failing to serve this woman because she is ....whatever. That's the risk in not serving her. You can refuse service for any reason or no reason, just not the wrong reason.

Answer 5

All establishments have the right to refuse service to a paton who is rude or abusive that is law.
To yell back I wouldn't do that as others in the establishment not knowing what is going on might take offense. Best your sister should do is tell the lady that if she can't be civil and polite she will have to wait for another person to service her. If nobody else can service her she will just wait or leave.

Answer 6

She does not have the right to yell at a customer, no matter what, but she should also not be taking verbal abuse from her either. Were I her, I would call my manager and ask the manager to wait on this customer.

Answer 7

Restaurants may be open to the public but they are still private businesses. Anyone acting in an unruly manner can be asked to leave and, upon refusal, can be removed by the police for trespassing.

But you do have to ask the individual to leave. You can't just ignore them as the law will consider that they're not mindreaders.

Answer 8

The manager should tell this woman that she's no longer welcome in the restaurant. Odds are that it's costing the place more to service this one lunatic than the restaurant is earning from her business.

If you're a private restaurant, you have the right to refuse service to anyone as long as you're not doing it based on a prohibited classification (race, religion, national origin, etc). Tell her to get lost.

Answer 9

This one is completely up to management. Your sister should make them aware of her problems with the customer and have management take care of it. If she does yell back at the lady it is a reason to be fired. Her job is customer service and unless management handles it that unfortunately is her job, customer service. The customer is always right until management intervenes. I know it sounds bad, but it is the honest truth.

Answer 10

Well, she can refuse to wait on her but it would be unprofessional to have a screaming match. Just let someone else help the woman and explain to her boss why.