Lancaster County restaurant hasn't lost business since atheist's discrimination complaint, owner say

[rug]

Published: Friday, August 03, 2012, 9:09 PM
By SUE GLEITER, The Patriot-News

Business at Prudhomme’s Lost Cajun Kitchen hasn’t suffered since a discrimination complaint was filed against the Columbia, Lancaster County restaurant earlier this summer.

- snip -

Last month, Prudhomme’s, known for its Cajun and Louisiana cuisine, was catapulted into the national spotlight when John Wolff of Lancaster County filed a complaint with the Pennsylvania Human Relations Commission against the restaurant’s 10 percent church bulletin discount.

- snip -

Prudhomme’s also has a T-shirt in the works which will be available for sale at the restaurant.

It will read: “Your Faith Bulletin. Wear this for your Sunday dining discount @ Prudhomme’s” with the word “Co-exist” and several religious symbols including the atheist symbol.

http://www.pennlive.com/midstate/index.ssf/2012/08/prudhommes_lost_cajun_kitchen.html

[2ndAmForComputers]

1. Key words here being

"owner says."

[struggle4progress]

2. It sounds like the whole thing has been good free PR for the non-church-attending owner

It also sounds like she's gotten good legal advice: she's not acting defensive, she's broadened her language, and she's made a bit of a joke of the whole thing with the T-shirt

I was sorry that we didn't hear from Mr Wolff in the article

[Leontius]

13. Maybe there is some civil penalty for frivolous use of the courts in PA state law

That may explain Wolffs' sudden silence and seeming lack of concern about this now.

[struggle4progress]

14. I think he filed an administrative complaint

[Goblinmonger]

17. Maybe you don't know what the fuck you're talking about.

Just saying since we are throwing around "maybes."

[Leontius]

26. Me maybe , you definitely.

[struggle4progress]

3. ... Although 35 restaurants in the area do the same promotion,

Wolff singled out the Lost Cajun Kitchen. In response, Prudhomme invited Wolff to bring his membership card from the Freedom From Religion Foundation to the restaurant and promised he would receive the same discount.

"His response: he said, 'I couldn't be bothered.' So, he had never been here, he had never come here [and] he had never had any intention of coming," Prudhomme concludes ...

Charlie Butts (OneNewsNow.com)
Friday, August 24, 2012 11:22 AM
Atheist's complaint proves good for business
http://www.onenewsnow.com/legal-courts/2012/08/25/atheists-complaint-proves-good-for-business

[edhopper]

4. I could look at this two ways

One is business is up because all the outraged Christians who want to put the nasty atheists in their place, sort of like Chik Fil A.

Or that most people don't care either way and what ever increase in business they got was due to there name being in the press.

I lean toward the latter.

[2ndAmForComputers]

5. There's a third possibility. See post 1.

[edhopper]

9. Yes, there is that.

so three ways.

[struggle4progress]

10. So what's the latest from Mr Wolff on this? The story's some months old by now

[2ndAmForComputers]

27. What does that have to do with the post you're replying to?

I'm not talking about the person who complained.

[struggle4progress]

30. I thought we might like Mr Wolff's latest in trying to sort this out

[dmallind]

6. Not surprised - bigots flocked to boost Chick-Fil-A's business too. nt

[cbayer]

7. Sounds like the owner has gone out of her way to be as inclusive as possible.

Of course, all that free publicity hasn't hurt her either.

[Goblinmonger]

8. Is it a surprise that after being excluded

the person doesn't want to partake?

[Leontius]

11. Yep I remember the part of the story where the owner told Wolf she didn't

want him in her restaurant.

[Goblinmonger]

15. Do you remember the part of the story

where the restaurant offered a special deal to those that went to church?

What if this were a restaurant that offered a special deal for whites and then blacks were upset about it? Would you have the same flippant attitude toward it?

[struggle4progress]

23. ... Sharon Prudhomme, one of the co-owners of the restaurant, said she is not discriminating because

diners don't have to actually attend a church or synagogue service to get a bulletin. She said area religious leaders told her that anyone can walk in a religious building and obtain a bulletin, without attending services ... In fact, she said, she does not attend church ...
Atheist files complaint over restaurant's Sunday promotion
Intelligencer Journal
Lancaster New Era
Updated Jul 02, 2012 22:17
By CINDY STAUFFER
Staff Writer
http://lancasteronline.com/article/local/681194_Atheist-files-complaint-over-restaurant-s-Sunday-promotion.html?page=all

... Prudhomme invited Wolff to bring his membership card from the Freedom From Religion Foundation to the restaurant and promised he would receive the same discount. "His response: he said, 'I couldn't be bothered.' So, he had never been here, he had never come here he had never had any intention of coming," Prudhomme concludes ...
Charlie Butts (OneNewsNow.com)
Friday, August 24, 2012 11:22 AM
Atheist's complaint proves good for business
http://www.onenewsnow.com/legal-courts/2012/08/25/atheists-complaint-proves-good-for-business

[Leontius]

25. 'Non church goer' is not a protected class under the Civil Rights Act, race is.

Try again.

[Goblinmonger]

28. Discriminating based on religion IS protected under the Civil Rights Act.

Try again.

[Leontius]

29. Church attender or non church attender is not a religion

and as I said previously not a protected class under the Civil Rights Act. You still fail but keep trying.

[Goblinmonger]

31. Hope your heaping plate

of privilege was tasty for supper tonight.

[Leontius]

32. Oh gosh I'm so hurt. Just because you fail to make a

compelling argument or any real argument at all for your mistaken view I'm privileged. Now isn't that special.

[Goblinmonger]

33. Well, I know I can't keep up with your retorts

of "I know you are but what am I?"

And you are privileged because you are. And you fail to see it because you are and don't care.

[struggle4progress]

12. Did Mr Wolff ever actually go to the restaurant? IIRC, his story was he'd checked them out online

and had filed a complaint after seeing the church-bulletin discount online

And as far as I can tell, Mr Wolff's current stance is: "I was looking at restaurants online and saw a church-bulletin discount, so I filed a discrimination complaint, but when the restaurant owner offered me the discount without a church-bulletin I told her I wasn't interested"

So the facts, as I recall them, might indicate he had actually planned to eat at the Lost Cajun but flew into a rage after realizing they offered a discount that didn't apply to him -- or the facts might indicate he had just been trolling local restaurants online for FFRF, hoping to find a church-bulletin discount that he could screech about

[Goblinmonger]

16. Or the facts might indicate

that a restaurant offered special privilege to those that attend church and someone who isn't religious was rightly put off by it.

What if the offer was for whites? Would you accuse a black person that filed a complaint of "trolling local restaurants online for the NAACP, hoping to find a white discount that he could screech about"?

[struggle4progress]

18. Did he ever actually go to the restaurant?

[Goblinmonger]

19. I don't know.

I wouldn't. I'm not a big fan of boycotts, but when someone goes out of their way to let me know they don't appreciate my business, I tend to not go. And I hold grudges for a long time. A local ice cream place's owner said to the media that teachers were a leech on society. Never been back since.

[struggle4progress]

20. It's been widely reported that Wolff has never been to the restaurant, and he's quoted repeatedly

in various articles as saying that he doesn't regard the discount itself as a big deal but that he's simply annoyed at or disturbed by the religious right in Lancaster county and wants to encourage people to think about that. He's, of course, entitled to his views and may patronize (or not patronize) whosoever he chooses -- but the law and the administrative process do not exist to provide an outlet for personal annoyance or to provide a venue in which people can broadcast points that they believe others should think about: the intent of the law and of the process is to prevent real acts of discrimination

... Wolff, who said he's never been to Prudhomme’s, recently filed a complaint with the Pennsylvania Human Relations Commission ... He said came across Prudhomme’s bulletin promotion while doing an Internet search of the restaurant, which he had heard good things about. But, he said the restaurant’s discount for church-goers annoyed him ... He said the complaint against Prudhomme’s isn’t as much about the actual discount as it is the bigger picture of what is happening in this country. “I’d just be happy to bring this out in the open and get people to reflect a little bit,” Wolff said" ...

Atheist files complaint over Lancaster County restaurant's church-bulletin discount
SUE GLEITER, The Patriot-News
Published: Monday, July 02, 2012, 2:49 PM
Updated: Thursday, July 05, 2012, 9:04 AM
www.pennlive.com/midstate/index.ssf/2012/07/atheist_files_complaint_with_p.html

... Wolff said he was disturbed when he found the offer on Prudhomme's website. He said was considering eating there, but never did. "I don't consider it an earthshaking affair, but in this area in particular, we seem to have so many self-righteous religious people, so it just annoys me" ...

Atheist files complaint over restaurant's Sunday promotion
Intelligencer Journal
Lancaster New Era
Updated Jul 02, 2012 22:17
By CINDY STAUFFER
Staff Writer
http://lancasteronline.com/article/local/681194_Atheist-files-complaint-over-restaurant-s-Sunday-promotion.html?page=all

... Wolff, a Lancaster resident who said he's never been to Prudhomme's, recently filed a complaint with the Pennsylvania Human Relations Commission ... He said the complaint against Prudhomme's isn't as much about the actual discount as it is the bigger picture of what is happening in this country. "I'd just be happy to bring this out in the open and get people to reflect a little bit" ...

Prudhomme's Lost Cajun Kitchen: John Wolff, Atheist, Files Complaint Over Restaurant's Discount For Churchgoers
Religion News Service
By Sue Gleiter
Posted: 07/10/2012 9:04 am
Updated: 07/10/2012 10:51 am

... In an interview with Lancaster Online, Wolff stated that he was filing the complaint because he felt that individuals who do not attend church were being discriminated against by the deal ... "That rubbed me a bit the wrong way. It's not a big deal in itself and I have no animosity towards Prudhomme's, but I do bear a grudge against a religious right that seems to intrude on our civil rights" ... Mr. Wolff has never been here, nor had any intention of coming," said Prudhomme ... In an interview with a Lancaster publication, Prudhomme stressed that the discount could be used by anyone and did not necessitate attending a church service ...

Penn. Restaurant Gets Support Against Atheist Complaint
By Michael Gryboski , Christian Post Reporter
July 17, 2012|4:33 pm
www.christianpost.com/news/penn-restaurant-gets-support-against-atheist-complaint-78411/

[Goblinmonger]

21. So are you saying that what he is doing is a bad thing?

Is it wrong to try and bring discrimination to the public eye?

[struggle4progress]

24. He's wasted everybody's time on a matter he says is "not a big deal" because he's annoyed

at the religious right

"... It's not a big deal in itself and I have no animosity towards Prudhomme's, but I do bear a grudge against a religious right ..."

[Fortinbras Armstrong]

22. I am supposed to be concerned about this because an atheist has his feelings hurt

I used to live in Brooklyn, New York. There was a bakery down the street where Orthodox Jews got a discount. (I resisted the temptation to wear a yarmulke in that bakery.) It did not bother me. I do not know why something similar bothers Mr Wolff. Is he being injured in any way whatsoever by Prudhomme's discount offer? Is he actually being discriminated against because of his atheism?