WEST HARTFORD, CT — A social media uproar over a beer wrapped in a white sheet, a patron of color and a fired employee at a West Hartford gastropub has spilled into the courtroom.
South Windsor resident Nathan Thaller filed a lawsuit against the West Hartford World of Beer restaurant. The suit seeks to have Thaller reinstated at his job, along with unspecified damages. His lawyer, Michael Reilly, declined to elaborate beyond the lawsuit when contacted by Patch Thursday.
The brouhaha is over a beer called Yellow Belly, a product of the Sweden-based Omnipollo Brewery. The glass bottles are presented in packaging that includes a white sheet draped over the bottle with two black dots resembling eyeholes. According to the lawsuit, the creator, a Black man named Henok Fentice, intended it to symbolize — by the name and packaging — racism in Europe, the United States and beyond.
According to the lawsuit, Thaller was working at World of Beer and was assigned a table with two regular patrons — a white man and a Black man. They were members of a program that rewards guests with points for trying out new beers, according to the lawsuit.
The customers said they wanted to try new beers to get points, and one of them ordered a Yellow Belly, according to the lawsuit.
The lawsuit says that Thaller, unaware of the beer's intended message, brought the beer to the table and informed the pair it cost $40 per bottle. It was then sent back, according to the lawsuit.
The customers left after about a half-hour and about an hour later, the wife of the Black man called the restaurant to inquire about the Yellow Belly beer brought to her husband, according to the lawsuit. Thaller said in the suit that he brought the beer to the table in its packaging and discussed only the price. The next day, Thaller questioned why the beer was on the menu with a manager and assistant manager in light of the Black Lives Matter movement, according to the lawsuit.
A Facebook post by the customer's wife subsequently appeared, saying, "This KKK bottle was brought over without warning about its appearance," according to the lawsuit.
According to the lawsuit, Thaller was called to a meeting with the restaurant's general manager before a July 24 shift and was fired amid references to negative news coverage.
"The plaintiff spoke out as a citizen on a matter of public concern when he questioned serving Yellow Belly during the Black Lives Matter movement without educating its staff or patrons about the beer's anti-racist message," the lawsuit says.
World of Beer plans to no longer carry Yellow Belly. A manager at World of Beer on Thursday referred questions to the chain's corporate office. A message seeking comment was sent via an automated form online.
Patch reached out to a beer aficionado who lives in Tolland County and happens to be Black. He requested anonymity but went along with a suggestion to run an image search on Yellow Belly beer. He said if he was presented with the beer at the restaurant, he would send it back based on its packaging, even after learning of its intended message.
December 03, 2020 at 11:45PM
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Lawsuit Filed Over Klan-Like Beer Label At West Hartford Eatery - Patch.com
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