Rawson employee held accountable for his violent actions
RANDPARK RIDGE – 'I would like to thank the members of the public who brought this unpleasant matter to our attention' – Rawson Property Group managing director, Tony Clarke.
A Rawson Property Group employee’s contract was terminated following a violent altercation at a North Riding restaurant.
A patron of the restaurant who witnessed the incident took to Facebook about it. He said two men started a fight with another couple which quickly turned into a brawl.
He called the incident violent and alleged that the aggressors were ‘clearly homophobic’.
The company released an official statement about the incident explaining that only one of the two men involved in the altercation was a Rawson employee, contrary to a Facebook post which suggested it was a group of agents.
The company said the two aggressors were a father and son, and only the father was an employee who had recently joined the company and had now been fired. It added that the employee had launched a verbal attack and shoved two patrons to the ground.
They said the matter was also reported to the Estate Agency Affairs Board and it may institute a further action against the ex-employee.
“I would like to thank the members of the public who brought this unpleasant matter to our attention,” Rawson Property Group managing director, Tony Clarke said in a statement.
Refuting that the aggressors were ‘clearly homophobic’, Clarke said, “It was unfortunately interpreted as an attack on homosexuality, however, our investigation shows that homophobia wasn’t at the heart of this altercation.”
He added that the crux of the matter was that a Rawson staff member did not conduct himself according to their policies and in doing so he embarrassed both himself and the brand.
“We take responsibility for this incident and we apologise to everyone that witnessed this incident and to the community at large.”
Clarke further stated that they pride themselves in inclusivity and that discrimination of any kind being it race, gender or sexual preference was not tolerated.
He said the North Riding Rawson franchise was not involved in the matter in any way. The company had been celebrating their 10th anniversary earlier at the restaurant before the incident took place.
“The incident took place after most of the franchise’s staff had left the restaurant.”
Randburg Sun spoke to the restaurant’s owner who said that the establishment was and would always be a family restaurant.
He added that they did not condone the behaviour of those involved but added that they could not control or be held responsible for their patrons’ actions.
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