A Black man who was denied service in Caffé Nero in Central Square last month when he was confused with another Black man said he spoke with the Cambridge Human Rights Commission on Tuesday and considers the matter over.
“This was resolved for me in many ways. I filed a complaint because I want to leave it on the record, not for myself,” said Phillip Martin, a Cantabrigian who retired recently after a distinguished career as an investigative reporter, including at WGBH. He said he hoped it would be a teaching moment on racism and bias, and not just for White people – Martin revealed that the worker involved was also a person of color.
The incident, first reported in the Boston Globe, occurred the week before Thanksgiving, when Martin went to the café to meet another journalist. The counter clerk refused to serve him, having confused him with a man who had caused an incident at the café.
Cambridge police were called by both parties, and determined the situation was a case of mistaken identity. Martin said he stayed in the café afterward for his meeting. But he also filed complaints against Caffé Nero with the Human Rights Commission and with the Massachusetts Commission Against Discrimination. Martin said he was not traumatized by the incident, but it had been humiliating.
Caffé Nero America’s chief operating officer, Paul Morgan, sent Martin an email on Nov. 25, apologizing profusely for the incident and inviting him to discuss it if he wished. Morgan said in the email, which Martin shared with Cambridge Day, “our goal is to ensure that this cannot happen again.”
Morgan told Martin the company had already started conducting trainings in the Cambridge store and would do so across its chain, and managers will be asked to ensure that every worker had received the training. Martin says he met with Morgan at the Central Square location. He wanted to let the company know such interactions were not acceptable, and to emphasize training workers would be important. “Caffé Nero to their credit is instituting training across all their cafes in the Americas and some apparently in the U.K. so this doesn’t happen again,” he said.
Morgan in an email to Cambridge Day noted the training was conducted in U.S. stores only in a mix of face-to-face, documented procedures and a podcast. Caffé Nero, which was founded in London in 1997 and opened in the United States in 2014, now operates more than 1,000 stories in 11 countries. It has three locations in Cambridge and 43 in the United States, in Connecticut, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New York and Rhode Island.
“I believe them”
Morgan noted the barista had been traumatized by their encounter with a previous customer, and Martin’s height, build, goatee and glasses were similar to that of the other customer. “While it is not acceptable to confuse any customer with another, the prior incident was traumatic for the barista involved and it triggered her response,” Morgan noted.
He followed up with an email saying he had reached out to Martin because “I wanted [him] to know that this bothered me on a personal level, and that we are NOT a faceless corporate business – we are an independent, family owned company full of people who truly care. We made a mistake and are truly sorry. I wanted him to know that it mattered.”
Martin said he came away from the meeting with Morgan believing that the incident did not reflect an underlying culture of racism. “It was important for me to know it was not systemic,” he said. “I believe them when they saw they are not [racist].”
Martin also said he had been shown a photo of the man who had been disruptive. That man also has a goatee, but otherwise Martin did not see a resemblance. Martin, who has covered the problem of racial misidentification as a journalist, said that racism was not limited to white people, but could be internalized by people of color. “Black people can be very prejudiced against their own people,” he noted.
A teaching moment
He called the incident a black eye for Caffé Nero, but noted that “black eyes do heal and I think this one will.” He said he spoke briefly with the worker, and that “she was very contrite and also very polite. And I think a little embarrassed. Who wouldn’t be?”
Martin added he was glad the worker was not fired over the incident. “The last thing I wanted was someone to be let go when it could be a teaching moment,” he said.
He said he likes the café and will continue going to it.
Vannessa Carr, attorney investigator for the Cambridge Human Rights Commission, confirmed that an initial complaint was filed but would not confirm or deny meeting with Martin, because the process is confidential. When complaints are filed, an interview is conducted and the other party can respond in writing. After a response is filed, the commission can investigate further or seek resolution through mediation, a settlement or other means. Morgan said as of Friday the company had not heard from the commission.
Carr said Cambridge Day could seek further information by filing a public records request. The publication has done so.
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Philip Martin is a class act & this incident shows it once again. I miss his reporting on GBH but it’s good to know he’still out there advocating for justice while also being his generous self in accepting apologies all around. A class act.
How is it a racial incident when a black woman misidentifies a black man? I’m sorry but what I see in this so-called antiracism fad is a needless revival of racial antipathy, at a time when solidarity has never been more essential in the face of an existential threat to us all.