A busy taphouse in Maryland has banned a 52-year-old regular customer because he is “old and white.” Now, 52-year-old Neal Glessner has sparked protests in his small town as people gather outside of Dan’s Restaurant and Taphouse to speak out against the restaurant for banning the white customer while holding signs that proclaimed “old white men’s lives matter” in a controversial dig to the Black Lives Matter movement.
Gleasson did not take the restaurant’s decision to ban him lightly. He has since filed a discrimination lawsuit against the Maryland waterhole, arguing that the Boonsboro restaurant banned him based on his age and his race despite the fact that he would regularly spend upwards of $500 per week on food and beverages at the restaurant.
While a bartender at the establishment allegedly threw Gleasson out of the restaurant for being an “old, white man,” white locals in Boonsboro are solidifying their protests behind Gleasson and are fighting back against the alleged discrimination.
Gleasson’s lawsuit, which probably won’t hold up in court, claims that he faced discrimination by the restaurant staff of his favorite joint on February 18, 2022, when he was banned from the establishment for being old and white.
While Gleasson believes he is a victim, owner Charlotte Aufdem-Brinke tells a different story. She claims that Gleasson was a nuisance that needed to be dealt with because he would exhibit frequent and “repeated occurrences of disruptive behavior against members of our team” at the restaurant. Because he was a disruptive customer who did not care for the staff, he was banned. The owner of the restaurant confirmed that the 52-year-old white man was not banned because of his age and race but because his behavior was inappropriate time after time again and again.
Mike Skinner (above) was working as the restaurant manager at the time of Gleasson’s ban. He kicked the 52-year-old man and a friend out of the restaurant for being a disturbance and even called the police. Body camera footage from the chops confirms that Gleasson was acting inappropriately and aggressively, although he wants to pretend he was banned because he was old and white.
Skinner allegedly told Gleasson’s friend, Joseph Michael, “You old, white people act like you own everything. Get the f*** out of here!” Unfortunately, Skinner mouthed off to the man who had just been appointed a judge by the Deputy State’s Attorney.
The body camera footage recorded Michael saying, “I’m happy to go… but I just need to know if I’m banned or not?”
Skinner replied, “Yes, you are banned. You are not allowed to come back in here.”
Then, Gleasson claimed that Skinner kept on rambling, although the supposed statement was not recorded by a body camera.
The 52-year-old said, “Anyone that thinks this is about Black Lives Matter, Trump, or any other political issue is ignoring the facts so they can promote an agenda that is not mine.”