CLEVELAND, Ohio - An African-American sorority member accused the Bahama Breeze Restaurant in Orange Village of racial profiling because the manager called police Tuesday at the end of a sorority gathering. 
 
 Chante Spencer, who was among about 40 members of Delta Sigma Theta at the restaurant, said in an interview Wednesday that the trouble began after a woman celebrating with the sorority, who had been waiting 25 minutes for her bill, said she was going leave. The woman was not a member of the sorority but was with its members. 
 
 Spencer said the police were called even though the woman ultimately waited and paid the tab because the manager wanted officers to wait as other members of the party, who were spread out at multiple tables, paid their bills. 
 
 "Police were standing there to make sure everyone paid, which we felt was racial profiling," Spencer said. Spencer spoke to cleveland.com as a patron at the restaurant last night and said she was not speaking for the sorority. 
 
 Caribbean-themed Bahama Breeze grille is part of the Florida-based Darden company, which also owns the Olive Garden and Longhorn Steakhouse restaurants. Rich Jeffers, Darden's senior director of communications, offered a brief statement to cleveland.com in response to questions about the incident and about the restaurant's policies. 
 
 "We clearly fell short of delivering great service, and we've invited the guests back in order to provide an exceptional Bahama Breeze experience," Jeffers said. 
 
 The restaurant's manager told police that some members of the sorority threatened to leave without paying, according to a copy of an incident report provided by the Orange Village Police Department. The manager requested that that the police stay until the all of the bills were settled, the report says. 
 
 The manager said that members of the group became upset waiting for their bills and caused a "disturbance" and used profanity toward her, according to the police report. 
 
 The police report states that all bills were paid and says one member of the group told police when they arrived that she would ensure all the bills were accounted for. The police did not take any action against any members of the group. Police arrived at around 8:30 p.m. and stayed for about one hour, according to the police report. 
 
 Spencer said the incident report misrepresents what happened and that the charge that people were threatening to leave without paying is "totally not true." 
 
 Members of the group -- which included a doctor, a judge, educators and other professionals from the Cleveland area - became upset by what they perceived as case of profiling by a manager, she said. 
 
 Spencer said that the group had a reservation for 25 people to celebrate a sorority sister's book deal and decision to relocate to the West Coast. Spencer said that a dozen more people showed up than expected, possibly contributing to poor service. Spencer said most guests were women and black. 
 
 Spencer, who is an educator, said she hopes the company will fully investigate incident so the company can learn from it. 
 
 "I am hoping that Bahama Breeze looks at this very carefully and alters policies and does some more training," Spencer said. "You cannot make assumptions that people are going to commit a crime based on how they look." ||||| Congresswoman Marcia L. Fudge Releases Statement After 
 
 Ohio Restaurant Racially Profiles African American Women 
 
 WASHINGTON – Congresswoman Marcia L. Fudge (OH-11) released the following statement after management of the Bahama Breeze Restaurant in Orange Village, a part of the Florida-based Darden Restaurants, Inc., called the police on a gathering of African American women, most of whom are members of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc. 
 
 “It is reprehensible for any place of business to resort to calling law enforcement on customers based on an assumption that they will not pay their bill. That was the response given when management was asked by a bystander. It is clear to me the incident that occurred at the Bahama Breeze Restaurant was a case of racial profiling. 
 
 “It is a chilling reminder that no African American is exempt from the impact of racial profiling when a group of professional women, known for their service and advocacy are victims. As an African American woman and a member of Delta Sigma Theta, I am appalled that this occurred in the district I represent, and will not be silent. Profiling citizens patronizing our businesses is something that no one in the 11th Congressional District of Ohio should tolerate.” 
 
 ### ||||| Tweet with a location 
 
 You can add location information to your Tweets, such as your city or precise location, from the web and via third-party applications. You always have the option to delete your Tweet location history. Learn more ||||| A manager at an Ohio Bahama Breeze called the police to make sure a group of black sorority members paid their bill. (Photo: WKYC-TV, Cleveland) 
 
 A Bahama Breeze manager was fired after several African American sorority members say the cops were called to make sure they paid their bill at the Ohio restaurant last week. 
 
 A manager at Bahama Breeze in Orange Village called police at around 8:30 p.m. on June 19, claiming about 40 guests were “worked up about the bill” and did not want to pay. 
 
 The manager also claimed some members of the crowd used profanity and disrespect. 
 
 The patrons, who were mainly members of the Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, the largest African-American Greek-lettered organization, say the service was slow and the situation escalated when the manager called the police. 
 
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 Chante Spencer, who was present during the incident, believes they were racially profiled and falsely accused of being guests who would skip out and not pay. 
 
 She claims four people were even asked to produce a receipt before they could leave the restaurant while police kept watch. 
 
 "No one deserves to be treated that way. Nobody," Spencer told WKYC-TV, Cleveland. 
 
 Ohio Congresswoman Marcia Fudge released a statement saying this was a clear case of racial profiling. 
 
 “It is a chilling reminder that no African American is exempt from the impact of racial profiling when a group of professional women, known for their service and advocacy are victims," she said in a press release. "As an African American woman and a member of Delta Sigma Theta, I am appalled that this occurred in the district I represent, and will not be silent." 
 
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 This was not the first time this restaurant has been accused of racial harassment. 
 
 In 2009, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission announced a settlement involving 37 black workers, who claimed, their managers repeatedly used racial slurs and denied them breaks. 
 
 The company paid more than a million dollars and was ordered to provide anti-discrimination and diversity training to staff. 
 
 Many of those who believed they were racially profiled returned to Bahama Breeze the following evening, this time to protest outside of the restaurant. 
 
 The restaurant responded to several users on Twitter with an apology saying "we clearly fell short of delivering great service to our guests." 
 
 We clearly fell short of delivering great service to our guests. The manager involved no longer works for us because they mistreated a guest, which is inconsistent with our values. We spoke with members of the party to personally apologize & invite them back. — Bahama Breeze (@BahamaBreeze) June 21, 2018 
 
 Bahama Breeze is owned by Darden Concepts of Orlando, which also owns The Olive Garden, Longhorn Steakhouse and Yard House. 
 
 WKYC-TV, Cleveland reached out to Darden Concepts for a comment and received a similar statement: "We clearly fell short of delivering great service, and we’ve invited the guests back in order to provide an exceptional Bahama Breeze experience." 
 
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 Follow Andrew Horansky on Twitter: @WKYCAndrewH 
 
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– A night out at an Ohio Bahama Breeze for a group of sorority sisters ended with complaints of slow service, police on the scene, and now, a fired manager after some of the black patrons said they were racially profiled. WKYC reports on the June 19 incident, when about 40 people, including members of the Delta Sigma Theta sorority, headed to the Orange Village eatery and didn't like the service. The manager called the cops, claiming the customers were cursing, disrespectful, and "worked up about the bill." Some of the patrons, however, say the manager assumed they wouldn't pay what they owed because they were African-American. Chante Spencer, one of the customers, tells Cleveland.com that one guest who'd waited 25 minutes for her bill got fed up and said she was leaving. She did stay, Spencer says, but the cops were summoned. Once police arrived, the manager, who claimed that more than one person had threatened to leave without paying, asked officers to stick around to make sure all of the customers in the group settled their individual bills, per a police report, which adds the cops stayed for about an hour. In a statement, Ohio Rep. Marcia Fudge, herself a member of the sorority, calls the incident "a chilling reminder that no African-American is exempt from the impact of racial profiling when a group of professional women known for their service and advocacy are victims." "We clearly fell short of delivering great service to our guests," the parent restaurant tweeted Thursday. "The manager involved no longer works for us because they mistreated a guest." The restaurant also noted it has invited those involved back for a better experience. (Nordstrom Rack recently apologized for calling the cops on three black shoppers.)