The upscale steakhouse chain, Morton's, in Nashville has been forced to apologize, after a waitress allegedly mistreated a cancer patient, who wanted to wear his hat while at the restaurant.
According to the Eater, Robert Chambers took his employees to the steakhouse for a holiday dinner, when he decided to put on a beanie hat to keep warm. Chambers said he wore the hat to prevent from getting cold, which a side effect of his treatment.
Chambers, host of "The Coin Vault" from a Tennessee shopping channel, was told to remove his hat because it reportedly violated the restaurant's dress code, FOX reported.
"The chemo I had last gives me a cold sensitivity at the end of the day. It doesn't matter what I've done, there's a certain point." Chambers told NashvilleScene.com. "So I'm sitting there at the table, freezing and I put my toboggan on. We're two or three minutes away from walking out and the manager comes up behind me and says, 'Would you please take that off in the dining room.' I said, 'Sure.'"
Chambers, who immediately took off the hat, said the manager told him he would need a doctor's note to wear the hat or call ahead of time, so he could be seated in a private dining area.
Co-workers reportedly came to Chambers defense and tried to explain to the manager that their co-worker wore his hat for medical reasons. The police were immediately called to deal with the dinner party, who were asked to leave the eatery.
According to reports Morton's dress code makes no mention of hats, but does suggest that men wear "business attire or smart casual wear, such as a collared shirt and dress pants." On Monday, COO Tim Whitlock personally reached out to Chambers and apologized for what he said was "misunderstanding."
"Our executive team has been in contact with Mr. Chambers who fully accepted our apology. There was a complete and total misunderstanding by our staff who had no idea that our guest had a medical condition. Our actions were uninformed and our intentions were not malicious. As a sign of our sincere apology and commitment to the community, we are donating on behalf of Mr. Chambers, $2,000.00 to the St. Jude's Hospital. In addition, Morton's The Steakhouse will also partner with Mr. Chambers to underwrite a cancer fundraiser."
Chambers later posted a statement accepting Whitlock's apology.
"He was very apologetic and we had a good discussion," he wrote. "End result, Morton's will make a donation in the amount of our check to St Jude's Children's Hospital. Apology accepted time (to) be on. I have more important things to fight than Morton's."
