A waitress in a Washington, D.C.-based restaurant has been fired after she told the liberal media that she would refuse to serve Trump administration officials.
Beuchert’s Saloon on Capitol Hill has fired waitress Suzannah Van Rooy after her comments to the Washingtonian went viral on social media. The waitress, who falsely claimed to be a manager at the restaurant, bizarrely told the outlet that she would “refuse to serve any person in office who I know of as being a sex trafficker or trying to deport millions of people” — claiming that those descriptions matched Trump administration officials.
“It’s not, ‘Oh, we hate Republicans,’” she claimed. “It’s that this person has moral convictions that are strongly opposed to mine, and I don’t feel comfortable serving them.”
“People were a lot more motivated the first time around to do those kinds of shows of passion. This time around, there is kind of a sense of defeat and acceptance,” Van Rooy continued. “But I hope that people still do stand up to this administration and tell them their thoughts on their misbehavior.”
Van Rooy’s comments were included in a long article about several Washington, D.C., restaurant employees who had vowed to either refuse to serve Trump administration officials or to make their dining experiences extremely unpleasant.
Restaurant workers in DC are pledging to make it difficult for people in the Trump admin to dine out. Totally normal pic.twitter.com/R0Kvsv0OKy
— Libs of TikTok (@libsoftiktok) December 13, 2024
Of course, unlike the rest of the country, Washington D.C. has anti-discrimination protections for political affiliation, which means that Van Rooy would be in violation of civil rights law.
Beuchert’s Saloon responded to Van Rooy’s comments almost immediately, declaring them to be “reprehensible” in a lengthy statement issued to Fox News. The restaurant also confirmed that Van Rooy had lied to the Washingtonian about being a manager, as she was only a part-time server.
“Recent comments made by a member of staff who had no authority to speak on behalf of our entire restaurant have been, quite rightly, flagged as inappropriate, hostile, intolerant, and unacceptable,” the statement read. “This staff member does NOT speak for us as a restaurant.”
“After the inauguration in January, we will begin serving our fourth administration as a neighborhood restaurant on Capitol Hill open to all and welcoming to all. We have always been a safe space for all,” the statement continued. “Everyone, especially anyone who feels prejudged or misunderstood, will always find friendly service and a sympathetic ear at Beuchert’s Saloon. Again, we deeply apologize for the comments made by a member of staff. They are NOT representative of our restaurant and do not reflect how we operate as a business, and how proud we are to be a gathering place on Capitol Hill.”
In a follow-up statement, Beuchert’s Saloon deemed Van Rooy’s behavior to be “unforgivable” and revealed that she had been fired for violating the restaurant’s “zero-tolerance policy on discrimination” — while also revealing that she had accessed the restaurant’s social media accounts without authorization to share her “wildly offensive” rhetoric.
“Not only do Ms. Van Rooy’s comments clearly violate our zero-tolerance policy on discrimination, but her decision to sign into our social media accounts in the middle of the night to post her own rhetoric in wildly offensive responses to comments is a further breach of conduct and protocol,” the statement read. “She has no authority to speak on our behalf, and her comments do not reflect the positions of over twenty other people who make up our staff.”
“For these reasons as well as the sheer dismay and disgust we feel at her unforgivable behavior, Ms. Van Rooy has been dismissed immediately,” the statement continued. “Our staff and families (many of whom are personally offended by Ms. Van Rooy’s comments about them) are still reeling from what Ms. Van Rooy said and did, and we as a restaurant are simply horrified to be associated with base prejudice.”
Meanwhile, Van Rooy has already deleted her LinkedIn page, where she had lied about her job description at Beuchert’s Saloon — claiming that she was responsible for messaging strategies, managing events for political figures, and developing relationships with influencers. The since-fired part-time waitress also reportedly worked as an organizer for failed Democrat gubernatorial candidate Beto O’Rourke’s unsuccessful 2022 campaign.
