Three Montrealers are alleging racial discrimination and are filing complaints with the Quebec Human Rights Commission after being abruptly fired from their jobs as servers at 1909 Taverne Moderne, the new restaurant partly owned by the Montreal Canadiens.
"It was an unexpected blow because leading up to that, there were no signs. There were no signs whatsoever," said Terry Ngala, who is among three servers who were fired a week and a half ago, three months after they were hired at the sports bar located at the Bell Centre.
"Up until then, I've never gotten a warning whatsoever."
It was the same for Ngala's fired co-workers, Whitney (who did not wish to have her last name published) and Fahmida Khatun - all given vague reasons after no prior warnings or complaints and all told by the new general manager that they weren't up to their standards.
"He compared me to two white French Quebeckers and talking about their appearance," said Khatun in an interview with CJAD 800 News.
Khatun didn't get it.
"I was always clean, I was always looked proper, my hair was always tied," said Khatun, adding she even went and bought a garment steamer so her work clothes would look tidy.
Ngala said the comments about his white co-workers by the recently-hired GM were surprising.
"He then continued saying, 'They come into work, their attention to detail, their way of being, their appearance. If everyone was like them, I'd be happy.' That's when a red flag went up in my head," Ngala told CJAD 800 News.
It was when Khatun found out that the other two English-speaking visible minorities on the serving staff were fired and the two servers who were French-speaking visible minorites were still on the job...
"I kind of connected all the dots," said Khatun.
Food service company Cara which is part-owner sent a statement saying they take the allegations "very seriously" and an independent inquiry is underway.
"1909 Modern Tavern will mandate an independent third party to conduct an investigation into the dismissal of an employee and allegations of racism. The investigation will aim to verify that our values of respect and equality contained in our code of conduct have been met, as our restaurant relies heavily on diversity in the hiring of its staff. We take this situation very seriously and we are taking the appropriate steps to ensure the principals in our code are being adhered to," said director of operations for the restaurant Otman Amer.
Ngala and Khatun said they just want to be given a proper explanation.
"For me, I want to know if I was right or wrong. If I'm wrong, I'll definitely accept being wrong but I would like to know the reason," sadi Ngala.
"If it's not the case and they're not racist, then great, fantastic," said Khatun.
"But if it is the case, then I would really want me, Terry and Whitney to get an apology."