Can Restaurants Refuse Service? Pregnant Woman Turned Away For Outfit In Washington

A pregnant woman in Washington said she was turned away from a restaurant because she was wearing a crop top and her baby bump was showing.

Charisha Raylee Gobin said a server at Buzz Inn Steakhouse on State Avenue in Marysville refused service Sunday night, saying she was violating the health code of the restaurant, reports said Tuesday.

The server told Charisha Raylee Gobin that the restaurant has a "no shoes, no shirt, no service" policy that is associated with health code regulations and anyone wearing a crop top would have been asked to cover it up.

Gobin posted a photo of herself wearing the crop top on her Facebook account after visiting the restaurant, captioning it: "I was just denied service at the Buzz Inn on State Avenue in Marysville for my outfit."

"The waitress/bartender stopped us and said, 'I'm sorry, you can’t be here in that shirt.’ I said, ‘Are you being serious with me right now?’ And she said, ‘Yep, you can't be here,’" Gobin told CBS affiliate KIRO-TV.

Gobin is said to be pregnant with twins, a boy and a girl, for seven-and-a-half months.

"Just because my belly was bigger and sticking out. But had it been anyone else, I don't think there would've been any problem whatsoever," she said.

According to the Civil Rights Act of 1964, denying service to customers on the basis of race, color, religion or national origin is illegal. In addition to this, most courts also don’t allow restaurants to prohibit customers based on extremely arbitrary conditions. Though most restaurants are considered private property, it doesn't excuse an unjustified refusal of service.

However, there are certain conditions under which restaurants are permitted to refuse or deny service to its patrons. According to Legalmatch.com, which is a private U.S. corporation providing online legal matching service to help people find lawyers, the conditions include:

• Customers who might be unreasonably rowdy or might cause trouble to the others present at the restaurant.
• People who might come in just before the closing time of the restaurant or create a ruckus as some might come in just after the kitchen is closed.
• Customers lacking adequate hygiene based on the restaurant's policies (e.g. excess dirt or body odor, etc)

The server at the restaurant told KIRO-TV that she told Gobin the crop top was violating the health code but didn't explain why. Gobin, however, said she did not wait for an explanation from the server. "I was livid. There was no way I was going to stay there," she said.

Gobin said she has never faced such a response or heard of a crop top not counting as a shirt. "I was wearing a shirt, it had sleeves. I didn't even have cleavage showing," she said.

Gobin also said she felt she was body-shamed. "It’s pretty ridiculous I was shamed in the first place and had to drive across town to eat," she said. Gobin mentioned that she didn’t have any problems at the next restaurant she and her family visited that night.

Her post on Facebook has over hundreds of shares and Gobin told KIRO-TV the response has been mostly positive.

"I was very surprised by the response," she said. "I think that says everybody pretty much agrees - I wasn't out of bounds or out of line in any way."

She also said that she won't visit this restaurant anymore, but the incident will not put her spirits down.

"Our bodies aren’t just toys, they’re for a purpose and I think it’s a beautiful purpose," she said.

Buzz Inn Washington corporate sent KIRO 7 a statement via Twitter, saying: "Statement: We sincerely apologize for the misunderstanding and will cover with all staff as to how to not overly enforce a rule that is intended to make all guests feel comfortable. Our apologies for the misunderstanding."