Gay abuse inquiry at Bath bar: No action
A bar at the centre of a row over alleged homophobic remarks has revealed that no staff have lost their jobs following an incident last year.
Belushi's in Green Street launched an investigation into claims a homophobic comment was made by one of its staff to gay people in a group trying to get in.
A storm of protest developed on Facebook over the incident, in which the group of eight people were turned away.
The group claimed that they were told "This isn't a f...ing homosexual bar anyway" as they were leaving.
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But the internal investigation has concluded that there was not enough evidence to justify any sort of disciplinary action against anyone.
Manager Chris Fox said a member of staff had been suspended in the immediate aftermath of the complaint, and statements taken from the party and from other members of staff. He also watched CCTV footage.
But he said: "The CCTV footage was inconclusive with regard to any incident taking place. Given that the incident involved verbal communication and that the CCTV was only able to capture images and not sound, this footage was of little use in the investigation. There are inconsistencies between the statements, which make it very difficult to apportion blame.
"After discussion with the senior management team of Belushi's Bars, it was agreed that there was not enough information to take the case to a disciplinary hearing.
"Belushi's Bath has never and will never tolerate discrimination in any form."
Among the party members was Adam Heimes-Herridge, who complained on the bar's Facebook page.
He said: "We've had no choice but to put it behind us now. But I think it is fair to say that we won't be visiting that establishment again."
4 Comments
by PWBath
Monday, January 28 2013, 5:22PM
“Clearly the bar believed the word of the one bouncer over the eight people who heard him. Yes, Belushi's was in a difficult position, but the negative PR will affect the entire staff and if I were a colleague of said bouncer, I would not be happy with him at all. The pink pound is a formidable force in a recession - and for every potential pink pound they have lost, they will also lose those of reasonable non-bigoted heterosexuals too.
Henceforth whenever Belushi's is mentioned, it will be known as a place that failed to adequately investigate alleged homophobia, and by association, support homophobic remarks. Big mistake.”
by 1MVBR
Monday, January 28 2013, 1:03PM
“You again, eh? Tell your mate/brother/son that he's had a lucky escape.”
by Ronnieeee
Monday, January 28 2013, 10:00AM
“I'm glad this has happened, this world is becoming too soft”
by 1MVBR
Monday, January 28 2013, 8:22AM
“This outcome is not surprising. A more imaginitive 'senior management team' might have persuaded someone to resign, perhaps? What they've decided to do instead is backhandedly accuse a group of their (now ex) customers of lying.
Why anyone ever visits the place is beyond me anyway - quite apart from the alleged bigotry of doorstaff, it's tacky and soulless, and has consistently flouted planning regulations over a number of years: http://tinyurl.com/ayxkszu”