Cancer patient kicked out of Morton's Steakhouse for wearing beanie hat

The Daily Mail ^ | 17 December 2013 | DAVID MCCORMACK

[moonshinner_09]

A cancer-sufferer attending a Christmas party at a Morton’s Steakhouse on Friday night was ordered to remove a beanie hat he was wearing to protect him from the cold in an unpleasant incident that escalated quickly when the manager called the police. Robert Chambers, who runs and hosts a Tennessee shopping channel show called The Coin Vault, is currently battling a treatable form of cancer which he was first diagnosed with in March. Chambers was well enough to take his employees to dinner at the steakhouse’s downtown Nashville branch on Friday, but towards the end of meal he started to feel the cold and so put the beanie hat on his head.‘The chemo I had last gives me a cold sensitivity at the end of the day. It doesn't matter what I've done, there's a certain point.’ Chambers told NashvilleScene.com. ‘So I'm sitting there at the table, freezing and I put my toboggan on. We're two or three minutes away from walking out and the manager comes up behind me and says, “Would you please take that off in the dining room.” I said, “Sure.”’Chambers was informed that he was in violation of the restaurant's dress code, even though it doesn’t actually say anything about hats and only suggests men wear business attire or smart casual wear. While Chambers quickly obliged with the manager’s request, other members of the party - including his 23-year-old son - tried to explain that their was a perfectly legitimate medical reason for wearing the hat indoors.

[jonrick46]

Morton's had their dress code posted in the restaurant. It did not include the prohibition for wearing hats.

I thought about the restaurant's prohibition and came up with a different take on it. Maybe there was a reason the manager wanted it removed. Perhaps it was the hat's similarity to the Jewish yarmulke (or kippah) which is worn when they pray, study, and eat.

Perhaps to avoid any kind of conflict from the wearing of the yarmulke, the manager took the prerogative to prevent anyone from wearing any head covering. It is a symptom of the intolerance in our society.

[MayflowerMadam]

Read the article. He entered without the covering, and put it on much later when he got cold.

I wonder how many ragheads they’ve asked to leave.

[InvisibleChurch]

Was there any issue w diners wanting to pay in francs?

[2nd amendment mama]

Men will remove their hats when in service at the church I attend, cancer or not.

DEFINITELY NOT a church that I'd want to attend. More concerned about appearances than ministering to those who need to hear the word of our Lord!

[2nd amendment mama]

You are incorrect. Here is a photo of the Pope saying mass with a skull cap on his head! Get your facts straight.

[2nd amendment mama]

BTW, since you included the link for Biblical precedent about men removing their hats in church, do you REQUIRE that women wear a head covering when in church. According to the verses you linked to, that is a requirement. Or, do you “cherry pick” those verses YOU choose to observe?

[EricT.]

When a church cares more about hats than souls...

[Mr. Dough]

Your church sounds like a group of pompous legalistic Pharisees. I suggest that you re-read the new testament, repent, and do your best to establish a personal relationship with Jesus.

I’m actually stunned anybody could make such a comment.

[Shimmer1]

But he didn’t ask for all society to change or adjust. He had those chills and wanted to be warm. Not the biggest deal.
This is surely not just being cold. I got chills during and after chemo and it was sort of “from within” I would have to dress up like an eskimo to eventually warm up. It was very uncomfortable.

[GilesB]

Yes we can - by their own words. He was asked for a note from his doctor. This is prima facie evidence that they were aware that he had a medical condition.

[so_real]

What you say is contrived and untrue; why would you attack a church's gospel mission over a dress code? It's truly not so difficult to have both and I'd be surprised if your church did not have a dress code of it's own. Ask your bishop/deacon/elder; the answer may surprise you. My point is simply that private establishments can, and should be allowed, their own rules of etiquette. We as consumers of the services they provide can either abide by those rules, humbly request to be made an exception to them, or patronize a different establishment. Using social outrage as a means to ignore the rules erodes our right to assemble freely. Have we not seen enough of our liberties incrementally eroded already.

[so_real]

I support and defend the Mennonite and Amish completely in their church traditions regarding women's head coverings. It's their right. Don't you? It isn't about the hat; it's about 'hochmut' and 'demut'. Different churches address the topic different ways.

[so_real]

I am sure a minster or pastor would prefer an individual with cancer to attend church with a hat vs. not attending at all.

And the pastor or minister has the right to make that exception. And I would support him in that decision. But the parishioner, or his table of friends, or a gaggle of social media zealots, do not in my opinion have the right to make that call for the pastor or minister. That is an erosion of our liberties, a slippery slope.

[EricT.]

My church has a dress code only for people who are actively working in a ministry involved in worship services. We must not wear shorts and flip-flops, and that’s about it. People who come to worship God are free to come just as they are as long as it’s legal. We don’t believe in shutting out people from worshiping God because of how they look.

[Ol' Dan Tucker]

Read up : https://www.google.com/#q=remove+hat+in+church and you'll even discover Biblical precedent : http://www.openbible.info/topics/wearing_hats.

So, according to scripture, the women in your church are required to wear hats while attending services if they have short hair and are forbidden to wear pants, right? Likewise, they are forbidden to braid their hair, wear any gold or pearl jewelry? Are they also forbidden to speak in church?

...Every man who prays or prophesies with his head covered dishonors his head, but every wife who prays or prophesies with her head uncovered dishonors her head, since it is the same as if her head were shaven.

...But if a woman has long hair, it is her glory? For her hair is given to her for a covering.

...Likewise also that women should adorn themselves in respectable apparel, with modesty and self-control, not with braided hair and gold or pearls or costly attire...

...The women should keep silent in the churches. For they are not permitted to speak, but should be in submission, as the Law also says. If there is anything they desire to learn, let them ask their husbands at home. For it is shameful for a woman to speak in church.

I find nothing in scripture that says a man must remove his hat except while praying or prophesying.

[so_real]

It isn't about the clothing; it's about pride and humility. Different churches have different traditions regarding the promotion of humility and the discouragement of pride. Yes, what is worn is part of these traditions. Yes, there is Biblical precedent. My church has it's own traditions; you've not defined them nor would you be allowed to define them. Neither you, nor a table of your friends, nor a gaggle of social media zealots have the right to dictate those traditions. Likewise, you also are not allowed to establish your own dress code in a restaurant you do not own. That's my point. It's simple and this desire you have to take offense at the parallel I drew impedes your ability to see the bigger picture. Do we have freedom of assembly, or do we not?

[Cyber Liberty]

I’ve eaten in that specific Morton’s several times...never again, until I hear that there is new management.

I certainly hope you let them know about that. Show redacted receipts if you have them.

[Grammy]

We had a restaurant like that here in Nashville years ago. If you showed up without a jacket or tie, they would provide you with one.

However, one late evening we went with a group, none of whom was properly attired, and asked if we could be served anyway. The chef looked at us and said.... “yeah. I will just tell them you are in the music business.”

It was a delightful meal. I was very sad when the chef died a few years later.

[Ol' Dan Tucker]

It's simple and this desire you have to take offense at the parallel I drew impedes your ability to see the bigger picture.

I take no offense at what you write. You're the one who brought church dress codes into the discussion and I asked if your church had a written dress code. You posted links explaining why men should remove their hats while in church.

Those links contained other Biblical commandments for how women should dress/behave while in church and I simply asked if your church requires women who attend to observe these commandments/traditions.

You never did answer my questions about whether the women in your church observe the commandments about head-covering, nice apparel, jewelry and holding their tongues that I found at the sites you posted. Your silence implies that they do not.

Do we have freedom of assembly, or do we not?

Now who's going off the deep end?

Most restaurants have a posted requirement for shirts and shoes because that comes from the health dept. I have yet to see a restaurant that had a posted requirement for men to doff their hats when inside the establishment.

[so_real]

As I said in another post, it's about pride and humility -- not about "how they look". Churches establish dress codes to promote humility and discourage pride. No church of which I am aware discourages worship based on how people look. The point is, private establishments (like your church and this restaurant) have the right to establish and enforce dress codes (no matter how mild or severe) and the participants (including those active in your ministry needing to wear flip-flops) must either humbly request to be made an exception to the rule or abide by it. There is no benefit to be found in using social outrage to denigrate dress codes. The unintended consequences will affect us all negatively.