Urth Caffe Reaches Discrimination Settlement With Ousted Muslim Women | Eater LA

"In 2016 the restaurant's Laguna Beach location removed seven women—six wearing hijabs—from an outdoor table after about an hour, with staff citing a 45-minute seating limit despite nearby empty tables and other patrons not being asked to leave; security and local police were called and the women were told to leave before finishing dessert and coffee. The situation escalated when the company countersued and retained attorney David Yerushalmi, who accused the women of extortion and “civilizational jihad” and is identified by the Southern Poverty Law Center as an anti-Muslim activist. Represented by the ACLU Foundation of Southern California and Hadsell Stormer & Renick LLP, the women reached a settlement that requires the company to provide employee diversity trainings, adopt a fair seating policy, and open the Laguna Beach location all day on June 16 with free drinks and desserts for customers as a public celebration of Eid al-Fitr. The settlement was framed as similar to a high-profile Philadelphia incident in which two men were unjustly arrested at a coffee shop." - Mona Holmes