A leftist Washington D.C. restaurant worker has been fired after she vowed to refuse service to officials serving in President Donald Trump’s administration.
As Slay News reported last week, several D.C.-area food workers told the Washingtonian that they planned to “resist” Trump by making his administration officials feel unwelcome.
Suzannah Van Rooy, a now-former server at Beuchert’s Saloon on Capitol Hill, told the outlet:
“I personally would refuse to serve any person in office who I know of as being a sex trafficker or trying to deport millions of people.
“It’s not, ‘Oh, we hate Republicans.’
“It’s that this person has moral convictions that are strongly opposed to mine, and I don’t feel comfortable serving them.”
Her remarks were part of a report about whether there would be local “resistance” to certain Trump figures when they were in public settings again after several high-profile incidents during his first term.
They included then-aide Sarah Huckabee Sanders being ejected from a restaurant in Lexington, Virginia.
In another incident, protesters swarmed then-Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen at a D.C. Mexican establishment.
“People were a lot more motivated the first time around to do those kinds of shows of passion,” Van Rooy told the Washingtonian.
“This time around, there is kind of a sense of defeat and acceptance.
“But I hope that people still do stand up to this administration and tell them their thoughts on their misbehavior.”
According to her LinkedIn page, which has since been taken down, Van Rooy listed her duties as doing daily operations, messaging strategies for the restaurant, developing relationships with influencers, and managing in-house events for political figures and VIPs.
Her page also said she worked as an organizer for Texas Democrat Beto O’Rourke’s failed run for governor in 2022.
Van Rooy’s anti-Trump comments provoked a backlash that also impacted her employer, Beuchert’s Saloon.
Beuchert’s Saloon said Van Rooy’s remarks were “reprehensible.”
The restaurant confirmed that she had been fired for violating the establishment’s “zero-tolerance policy on discrimination.”
Beuchert’s said the former employee was a part-time server and not a manager.
It put out statements on social media condemning her remarks after being made aware of them on Thursday.
“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,” Beuchert’s initial statement on Thursday said.
“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.
“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.”
By Friday, the restaurant said it had decided to dismiss the server because of this incident.
The restaurant blasted her comments and subsequent behavior as “unforgivable.”
It also said she had signed on to the restaurant’s social media accounts to speak on behalf of the restaurant without authorization.
“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 Friday 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.
“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.”
