### Msg 1 From: *Hobbit* To: dhui@thebriargroup.com Subject: Westin MJ's question Date: Thu, 23 Jan 2020 14:01:26 -0500 Hello, I'm told you are the general manager for the M.J. O'Connor's location inside the Westin Waterfront. One of your night mangers gave me your card, and implied that it was okay to contact you via email. Is that correct? I have a somewhat upsetting incident to discuss but I want to make sure we have communication first -- never know about spam filters and the like. Thanks _H* ### Msg 2 From: Donnie Hui Subject: RE: Westin MJ's question Date: Fri, 24 Jan 2020 20:53:43 +0000 Hello, Yes I am the General Manager at MJ O'Connor's. How can I assist you? Thank you, Donnie Hui, General Manager P: 617.443.0800 | F: 617.443.0877 425 Summer Street, Boston MA 02210 MJ O'Connor's | mjoconnors.com CITY BAR | citybarboston.com Seaport | 425 Summer Street | Boston, MA 02110 Briar Group | thebriargroup.com Briar Events | briareventsboston.com ### Msg 3 To: Donnie Hui Subject: Re: Westin MJ's question Date: Sat, 25 Jan 2020 12:48:04 -0500 I hope you can genuinely assist, and not just ignore or dismiss this rather sad situation. As you probably know, the Arisia science-fiction convention event was last weekend in the Westin, where the MJ's and City Bar were open to offer its attendees one of several options for food and libation. You probably understand that the clientele around such an event is highly varied in appearance and presentation, but that in theory you are welcoming to all. It's even painted on your door. It came to my attention rather suddenly on Sunday evening, via texts and direct notifications from people who know me, that good-faith patrons of the MJ's were being rudely ejected based on their appearance or dress. Discriminatory signs demanding footwear were placed at the entrances, hastily printed up and pasted over some of your normal signposts, in a distinctly unwelcoming way. Even patrons simply ordering takeout food were forced to wait outside the entrance for it, with your staff refusing to accomodate well-meaning customers for the short time of waiting. Do you have any idea how demeaning that feels on the receiving end, no matter who is being targeted? This had not been any sort of problem over the first half of the weekend, where unshod customers were cheerfully served and lo and behold, the sky did not fall. It was apparently a sudden change based on someone's personal phobia or hangup, a distinct misunderstanding on their part, but propagated into a dehumanized statement of "policy" with no flexibility offered to those who simply wanted to eat. It's a poor excuse. Evidently someone has bought into the old mythology about "food establishments", which if you don't already know is a complete falsehood, five minutes on the internet with a couple of relevant searches can fix that for you, as well as for whoever on duty that night instigated this nonsense. Were you aware that any of this was going on? Many people were upset and angry about the abrupt hostility, and many pictures were taken of those signs and will invariably become a matter of public record. This is not the kind of publicity you want, especially in the context of the event at hand. Word got around quickly, even outside of the convention-goers. On chance I talked with a pair of women in the lobby who weren't even attending the convention but were simply in town staying at the hotel for something else, *were shod*, but nonetheless were were asking *me* where they could go to have a drink where discriminatory practice was not part of the business model. They refused to bring you any business simply on that basis, in defense of sensibility. Arisia is a very diverse and relaxed event, and a substantial part of its attendance enjoys freeing its feet while on site. This is a bit of a tradition, and has generally been accepted by the Westin because it is inherently harmless. Some of us even work the convention on its "shoulders" -- load-in and load-out, happily barefoot and confident in what some would consider the "rougher" areas around the hotel: the back-of-house hallways, ballrooms, loading docks, trucks, and outside. This is routine for some of us, and our own choice and responsibility. Or to put it in millennial-ese, "it's a thing". And it is backed by a growing awareness of the benefits. Personally, I've avoided wearing shoes for health and mobility reasons for many years, in a similar way that one would avoid smoking or excess drinking. There is plenty of science asserting how shoes are ultimately harmful in many ways and that bare feet are healthy, and far safer than most people realize. Yes, I'll grant you that the lifestyle is unusual, but there's absolutely nothing wrong with it. And it's not just me -- I wasn't even visiting either of your venues myself, I was receiving the complaints because I happen to be one of the more vocal advocates of the lifestyle within our fold. I also go hiking and climb mountains and drive trucks and work outdoors without shoes, in complete confidence, and participate in various forums discussing the lifestyle. Your staff may have seen some of the brown "barefooter" ribbons that some of the Arisians were wearing -- I am the source of those, as well as informational "five myths" flyers we distribute that help debunk the most popular misconceptions. You should have received one of those from the manager on duty that night, who promised to pass it on to you. Those misconceptions come only from social conditioning, which began back in the Sixties when establishment owners found it a convenient excuse to continue discriminating against "undesireables" like blacks and hippies without crossing the Civil Rights act of 1964. That's where those dumb signs originally come from. There has never been any factual basis for this, despite various cooked-up lies like "health code" or venue liability. None of that is true, and yet it became so entrenched that not only do many people believe it wholesale, they actually develop phobias about feet as they grow up. Fifty-plus years later, we're still stuck with this nonsense and outright hatred. One of the most pervasive and yet ridiculous mythologies centers around food service, but one needs to look no farther than the website barefooters.org to find letters from every state in the Union that such myths are completely false. There are no "health codes" or the like related to feet or shoes, and never have been. Please do your due diligence and study some of this for yourself. None of this is a safety or liability concern to you, either. People accustomed to living unshod are well-conditioned and things like small bits of glass or detritus are simply not a problem, indoors or out. We watch where we're going, and are more likely to pick up and dispose of potentially injurious objects properly, rather than just leave them there. We know exactly what we're getting into when we walk into a bar, and are fine with it. We take full responsibility for ourselves, which in fact is the legal truth of the situation and needs no hostile intervention. We are adults making our own decisions and do not need or expect to be treated like five-year-olds, especially when so many other diverse personal attributes and presentations are running around at an event like Arisia in the space that we work hard to make feel safe for them. I am speaking for many of us, not just myself here. With all the facts at hand, there is no *rational* argument against something as harmless as barefooting, in food establishments or just about anywhere else. Basically, someone on duty that Sunday evening turned your "Failte" into a total "fail". This is nothing but bad for business, does not protect you in any way, breeds community hostility, and just turns away revenue. You, and the Briar Group brands as a whole, would do well to eliminate any such "policy" if it exists and get in line with the growing trend toward tolerance. Many high-profile corporations have long since done away with those old unwelcoming signs and have educated their management -- Target, Walmart, Dunk's, Trader Joes, Walgreens, several regional grocery-store chains, the list goes on. And from what I was told, "Laugh Boston" right next door continued to welcome guests throughout the weekend without any concern to what was on their feet. Your signs served as a highly visible example of a paranoid screw-up, and I hope you can hold the people responsible accountable and get them up to speed on what "Cead Mile Failte" really means. Thank you for your time; hopefully this works toward broad improvement. _H* ### Msg 4 To: info@briar-group.com Subject: copy of letter to Donnie Hui [Attn: Grace] Date: Mon, 27 Jan 2020 13:40:55 -0500 I discussed this with Grace on the phone this morning. [Thanks for taking the call and the concern.] Here's a forward of the note I sent the GM of the M.J.O'Connor's "waterfront" location in the Westin. The incident(s) began on Sunday the 19th, brought to my attention early that evening. I gave some information to the duty manager who was there, who probably just threw it away without passing it on as asked. I can supply an online copy if needed. I haven't gotten anything back from Mr. Hui yet but I would understand a need to take some time and understand/digest this. Remediation should be effected at all of your locations. There is zero risk, and only better community goodwill and revenue to be gained. No changes other than applied training need to be made. Thanks _H* ** [copy of letter to Donnie Hui] ** ### Msg 5 From: Grace Manozzi Subject: FW: copy of letter to Donnie Hui [Attn: Grace] Date: Mon, 27 Jan 2020 22:06:56 +0000 Hello- Thank you for calling this morning and bringing this issue to our attention. I can assure you we are taking this seriously, and have escalated your concern to our operations team, who oversee all Briar Group locations. This has been added as a topic of discussion for their meeting next Monday (2/3.) Please don't hesitate to reach out if you have any additional thoughts in the meantime. Thank you again. Sincerely, Grace Manozzi Relationship Marketing Coordinator ### Msg 6 Sent: Monday, January 27, 2020 5:44 PM To: Grace Manozzi Subject: Re: copy of letter to Donnie Hui [Attn: Grace] Thank you for taking it forward. I don't want to snow you with a bunch of web-links, but poking around on barefooters.org is a good start in building more background research. As are a few independent searches for keyword pairs such as "barefoot" and "health", and similar relevant combinations. Well, I'll pass one link for completeness: this is both sides of the handout I left with the MJ's evening manager. Same sort of supportive rhetoric, you'll find. http://outbarefoot.org/excu_ma.png [image file] Thanks! _H* ### Msg 7 From: Grace Manozzi Subject: RE: copy of letter to Donnie Hui [Attn: Grace] Date: Tue, 28 Jan 2020 15:41:31 +0000 Thank you for the additional info! I went ahead and forwarded on to the operations team, so they have it for their meeting. Again, thank you for bringing this to our attention. Have a wonderful week! Grace Manozzi Relationship Marketing Coordinator ### Msg 8 To: Grace Manozzi Subject: status? Date: Mon, 10 Feb 2020 10:55:14 -0500 Hi -- how are we doing on that discrimination issue at the Westin site? Presumably you had your meeting last week... tnx _H* ### Msg 9 From: Grace Manozzi Subject: RE: status? Date: Fri, 14 Feb 2020 21:07:14 +0000 Hello- Thank you again for bringing your experiences at MJ O'Connor's to our attention and providing us with useful information on the barefoot lifestyle. We will take it under advisement. Best, Grace Manozzi Relationship Marketing Coordinator ### Msg 10 To: Grace Manozzi Subject: Re: status? (followup) Date: Tue, 18 Feb 2020 09:46:59 -0500 I think Donnie Hui is a little ahead of "under advisement", as I was back on property over last weekend and had a pleasant conversation with him. He is fine with our choices, and we do understand each others' perspective on things and priorities on personal health and comfort. I would hope that this overall positive outcome and attitude can permeate all of the Briar Group infrastructure, where the truest meaning of universally welcome is enjoyed by everyone! I also had the chance to close the loop with a couple of Westin personnel, and they hinted about some internal "cultural training" management initiatives toward better accomodation of the events that come through the venue. I'll grant you that some of them are a little unusual, but not in any identifiably bad way. The Boston area has a lot of wonderfully complex diversity that we can all celebrate. Thanks for helping take this forward; I hope I've helped to advance constructive thinking on all sides. _H*