Despite being an establishment that's heavily patronized by college kids and other people in their 20s, the Old City location has a dress code. Among the prohibited items: excessively baggy clothes, work boots, hooded sweatshirts, and athletic jerseys. It also requires customers to tuck in their chains.
The suit was filed on behalf Michael L. Bolden. The 29-year-old is a part-time bartender at McFadden's in Old City and has been employed by the company since 2007. According to the complaint, the bar has 75 employees but only five are black, including Bolden (who has an African American father and a Cuban American mother). The suit claims that Bolden, who is also a lawyer, had his prime shift changed about the same time McFadden's allegedly attempted to dissuade black customers from frequenting the bar.
On Friday, Charles A. Ercole, a lawyer hired by McFadden's, issued a statement saying that the bar "denies that it ever implemented policies specifically intended to preclude patrons of any race." He added that employee assignments, including Bolden's, were "in no way based on race" and that McFadden's found the language in the alleged text messages "offensive and reprehensible." (Wyrsta has since been suspended pending an investigation.)
The company that owns McFadden's has locations all over the country. You can stumble into one of the franchises from Boston to Glendale, Ariz.
You can also find McFadden's in South Philadelphia at Citizens Bank Park. Before a Phillies game a little more than a year ago, David Sale of Lansdale went there with some friends for a bachelor party. The celebration didn't last.
In an altercation that began inside the bar and then spilled outside, Sale suffered internal injuries and head wounds and was taken to the University of Pennsylvania Hospital where he was pronounced dead. He was 22 years old.
