On the eve of Brooklyn’s home opener against Miami, Ludwig’s Drug Store of Prospect Heights alleges their employees have been subject to racial discrimination by Barclays Center staff, despite the pharmacist paying nearly $1 million for a 3 year luxury box license. From the New York Post’s Selim Algar :
Ludwig’s staffer Defreitas alleges that Barclays Senior Vice President of suite and ticket sales Brian Basloe (above) approached him on several occasions to ask why he was hanging around the ritzy portions of the arena.
“Why are you always here?” he asked, according to the suit. “You’ve been coming here a lot.”
Defreitas told him that he had box rights and Basloe backed off, according to the suit. “Sometimes I have to be the bad guy,” Basloe said. “I have a background in law enforcement.”
On Oct. 19, the trio overheard arena staffers on a radio remarking that they were a security threat and that their box should be investigated, the suit states. But a Barclays strike force invaded the wrong box and forced occupants to the floor to investigate them, the suit charges.The trio claims that they are the only black luxury box licensees at Barclays Center.
In a somewhat less sensational charge, Ludwig’s staffers also claim they waited over an hour for a pizza to be delivered to their luxury box. I can’t say for certain whether or not this is further evidence of institutionalized racism at Barclays, but if Domino’s CEO Patrick Doyle can man the ovens on those horrible TV commercials, surely Nets marketing creep Brett Yormark is not above lending a helping hand, especially if it means avoiding bad publicity.