In December 2019, Semhar Tesfagiorgis was prevented from working as a dealer when a patron asked that no blacks be permitted at the table. The gambler at the exclusive Crown London Aspinalls casino in Mayfair acceded to the request that only females with fair skin be allowed to deal.
In the incident, Aspinalls refused to accommodate a request by Tesfagiorgis for a shift swap because a patron did not want a black female dealer.
The dealer filed a suit charging discrimination, and the casino argued that accommodating the request furthered the business. An employment tribunal rejected the excuse, according to the Guardian.
“The accommodation of the request was direct race discrimination of the claimant because but for her race she would have been asked to deal to the patron,” stated the tribunal. “The granting of that request was less favorable treatment by the managers because of race.”
The panel continued, “The shift swap was refused because of the claimant’s race. The reason the claimant was not one of the patron’s preferred dealers is because she was not white. The refusal of the shift swap was less favorable treatment of the claimant because of her race.”
Tesfagiorgis, who worked at Aspinalls between 2007 and 2020, said her victory was akin to David’s over Goliath. “I tried for many years to open a dialogue about the racism myself and many others were often faced with, but I was either shut down, ignored or gaslighted each time.”
