Copyright © 2001 NLThomas
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American Indian Man Files Race Discrimination Suit in U.S. District Court in Madison, WI against Applebee's.

WISCONSIN - Applebee's Neighborhood Grill and Bar had the unabashed temerity, and to add insult upon humiliation, by its trifling offer to Mr. Michael O'Neill to resolve his case of racial discrimination against Applebee's. Having no recourse for satisfaction, Mr. O'Neill filed suit against Applebee's in the United States District Court for the Western District of Wisconsin in Madison for violating his rights under Title II of the U.S. Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Wisconsin Public Accommodations and Amusements Law.

The State of Wisconsin's Equal Rights Division found probable cause to believe that Applebee's Neighborhood Grill and Bar at 3605 Tower Avenue, Superior, Wisconsin, owned by Applebee's International, Inc., violated Wisconsinís Public Accommodations and Amusements Law, by refusing to serve Mr. Michael O'Neill of Superior, 56, because of his race and ancestry. Applebeeís refused to honor his Tribal ID card, which has his name, his picture, his date of birth, his address, and more information than a driverís license.

Mr. O'Neill does not drive, he has no drivers license, and he is an enrolled member of the Red Lake Band of Chippewa (Anishinaabe) American Indians.

Mr. O'Neill is seeking $9,000,000.00 in punitive damages at trial by jury, not for himself, but on behalf of each of the 9,300 enrolled Red Lake Band members who face similar discrimination. This award would be to establish an educational fund to benefit of the Indian children of the Red Lake Band, and to establish a legal defense fund to fight other acts of racial discrimination against American Indians. Mr. O'Neill also wants an injunction to prohibit Applebeeís from discriminating like this again, and to require Applebee's to accept photo tribal IDs as proof of age. Mr. OíNeill seeks unspecified damages from the jury for humiliation and embarrassment of himself by Applebees. He also wants costs and attorneyís fees.

Mr. OíNeill visited Applebee's on the 14th of November, 2000, with his wife and his son's fiancee. Mr. O'Neill ordered a brandy drink for himself. He had not been drinking before. He showed his only photo ID, his official tribal identification card. His ID includes his name, photograph, date of birth, social security number, his tribe, his tribal ID number, height, weight, hair color, eye color, and home address.

The server showed the ID to the manager, Greg Hartnett. Mr. Hartnett examined the card and refused to allow the waitress to serve Mr. OíNeill a drink. Mr. OíNeill and his party then left Applebeeís mortified, angry and embarrassed. His self-respect had been assaulted.

"This is humiliating", remarked Mr. O'Neill. "Applebee's made me feel awful, the way I felt when I was a child, when the white parents of some of my playmates would not let me into their houses because I was called 'a little savage'."

Wisconsin statutes list authorized ID's for serving alcohol. Applebee's claims to follow section 125.085(2) of Wisconsin Statutes to the letter. The law allows "documentary proof of age". Applebeeís Superior restaurant allows Minnesota driverís licenses, although these are not explicitly allowed by Wisconsin law.

Applebee's admits that Mr. OíNeill appeared to be more than of age; Applebeeís does not claim he was inebriated. Later, Applebeeís, however, served two Caucasian men alcoholic beverages, without asking for ID from either one.

Applebee's accepts White Man's ID's - state drivers licenses, state ID's, U.S. Armed Forces ID's, and U.S. passports, but it rejected Mr. O'Neillís official Tribal ID. Applebeeís is the largest casual dining restaurant chain in the world with over a billion dollars of earnings a year, but it has found another way to continue five hundred years of racial oppression against American Indians.

The Court has assigned this case to U.S. District Court Judge Barbara Crabb. Mr. O'Neill is represented by his lawyer, Peter James Nickitas, 28 Orme Court, Saint Paul, Minnesota 55116, phone: 651-699-1864.