A Chinatown sports bar has been ordered to pay $687,000 in damages to a former bartender who said she was fired for the color of her skin, the Washington Business Journal (WBJ) reported.
Briggitta Hardin, who is African American, was hired to train at the bar in December 2010, the WBJ reported -- but her lawyers say she was fired on her first day.
A federal jury found Redline and its owner, Mick Dadlani, guilty of discrimination against Hardin.
Hardin said that when she met Dadlani after arriving for her first shift, he refused to speak to her or shake her hand, and fired her, according to a statement from Relman, Dane & Colfax, PLLC, the law firm that represented Hardin.
"Testimony from former managers and employees revealed that Dadlani expressed a preference for hiring white, blonde women for bartending positions, and ignored management's repeated objections that such hiring restrictions are illegal," Hardin's law firm said.
Hardin, then a student at Howard University, sued both the bar and Dadlani, saying she was dismissed due to the color of her skin.
Washingtonian reported: "In their closing statements, attorneys for both sides argued over allegations that Redline's ideal employees were 'hot, white, blonde chicks....'" The defense argued that Redline also employed "brown-haired and male bartenders," according to Washingtonian.
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A jury in U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia agreed with Hardin's claim, awarding her $175,000 in compensatory damages and another $512,000 in punitive damages.
The jury found Dadlani and Redline liable under both federal and D.C. anti-discrimination laws, Hardin's law firm said.
Someone who answered the phone at Redline on Wednesday said they had no comment on the case.
