London:
A man with a facial disfigurement has spoken out about the moment he was asked to leave a London restaurant after staff claimed he was “scaring customers.”
Oliver Bromley, 42, had just completed a treatment session at King’s College Hospital in southeast London and decided to grab lunch at a nearby eatery. However, after attempting to place his order, he was told to leave the place because patrons allegedly complained about his appearance, according to a report in The New York Post.
Bromley, who has Neurofibromatosis Type 1, a genetic disorder causing benign tumours to grow on nerves, expressed shock at being asked to leave so abruptly.
“I hadn’t even sat down,” he said, adding that when he went to place his order, he was asked to leave. A man behind the counter told him there were complaints about him, asking him to leave, Bromley said. “I asked him to repeat himself, and he said I was scaring customers,” he added.
Though upset by the encounter, Bromley hoped his experience would lead to increased awareness and education about his condition within the hospitality industry. “There’s a lot of naivety around the issue,” he said, expressing a desire to help people better understand his condition.
Bromley said that there was nothing to be afraid of, adding, “It’s just something some individuals have to live with”.
“I am hoping this raises awareness and that, going forward, there might be a positive outcome and prevent it happening again,” The New York Post quoted him as saying.
Bromley also reached out to the restaurant, which he chose not to name, but said he received no response. Then he reported the matter to the Metropolitan Police, who classified the incident as a hate crime. The Met told BBC that officers had visited Bromley and, while no arrests were made, the force emphasised that they take “reports of hate crime seriously.”
Bromley, however, said that this was the first time he had faced such direct discrimination. “People stare — young children, especially — but I’ve never been treated as directly as that,” he told the New York Post.
Trading Standards have also been informed of the incident, and the charity Nerve Tumours UK is set to meet with UKHospitality to discuss improving staff education.
Karen Cockburn, the charity’s director, said that they have written to both the restaurant concerned, and to UKHospitality, the trade association body. “Whilst we have not received any response from the restaurant, I am delighted to say that UKHospitality has offered to work with us to raise awareness of the condition in the hospitality sector, and I am meeting with them shortly to kick start this joint venture.”
