Toronto bar faces social media storm over alleged racial discrimination

By News Staff

A social media campaign has been launched against a Christie Pits bar amidst allegations the owner is racist against potential patrons. This comes after an Instagram video posted earlier this week by a young woman who says she and her friends were refused service at Monica’s Bar and Grill because they are black.

Nadine Stillman said they got a drink at the bar around 10:30 p.m. on Wednesday night but the owner told them they couldn’t stay because the venue was closing. After spending some time at a gallery across the street, the three walked past the bar about two hours later and noticed the sign still said “open” in the window and there were customers inside.

“The other patrons that were in the bar were allowed to stay. Three white males that were sitting at the bar, they were allowed to stay, but we were asked to leave, and it was clearly based on the colour of our skin,” Stillman told CityNews.

“It was easily the most blatant racist experience that I’ve ever had in my life.”

The social media backlash has been swift.

Since the post, Monica’s Bar and Grill has been inundated with accusations and comments on its Facebook page and the hashtag #ShutEmDown is gathering steam on Twitter. There are also numerous negative reviews citing discrimination at the venue, both recent and dating back months and years on websites such as Google and Yelp.

The bar’s owner told CityNews late Friday the girls were not allowed back into the bar because they were intoxicated and rowdy. She said she told them they were closed in order to avoid a confrontation.

Stillman denies they were intoxicated.

Stillman has filed a human rights complaint against the bar and says she has an interview scheduled for the end of August. The Human Rights Tribunal says there are no previous complaints against the venue in its system.

Stillman has also contacted the local city councillor, Mike Layton, about her concerns. She says the councillor’s office has offer her their support.

“It’s incredibly disturbing to hear that this would be happening in our city,” Layton told CityNews.

Layton says if the allegations are true, Monica’s would be in violation of the city’s licensing bylaws around discrimination. He said he’s working to determine what the city could do if the Human Rights Tribunal validates Stillman’s concerns.

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