Waitress Fired for Refusing to Serve Transphobic Customers

A waitress lost her job in Wisconsin after refusing to serve transphobic customers.

Brittany Spencer, a server at Fat Joe's Bar & Grill in Fond du Lac, Wis., said she was serving a couple when they started disparaging another customer at the bar, she told WTMJ TV in Milwaukee.

"They were asking me if I thought it was disgusting and wrong and why we would let someone like that into the establishment," Spencer said.

"I answered, no, I do not agree with that, and walked away."

Both the couple and the trans woman at the bar are regulars, the restaurant said. But Spencer had a problem serving a table where people were spewing hate. Her manager, though, said she needed to get over it.

"She essentially told me to suck it up or go home," Spencer said. "To which I said, 'OK, I will leave.'"

Tad Wallender, an owner of Fat Joe's, stood by the decision and said the restaurant was committed to serving all who come in the door. He would have sent a server home if they refused to serve transgender customers as well.

"If you want to walk in our front door and you want to have our food or drinks, watch TV, watch live music we provide," he said, "we're going to serve you as best we can and make you happy to your standards."