Ex-NBA All-Star Joe Barry Carroll & Joseph Shaw's Federal Discrimination Lawsuit Against The Tavern at Phipps Underway

Ex-NBA All-Star Joe Barry Carroll and Joseph Shaw accuse Buckhead's The Tavern at Phipps of racial discrimination in a federal discrimination trial now underway in Atlanta.

Joe Barry Carroll

Retired NBA All-Star Joe Barry Carroll and Joseph Shaw's federal discrimination lawsuit against Atlanta's The Tavern at Phipps got underway Monday. The men claim they were ousted from a bar because they are black. Carroll and Shaw said they were humiliated when a security guard escorted them from The Tavern at Phipps when they refused to give up their seats to two white women. The two men allege the bar engages in a broader pattern of discrimination against blacks.

The restaurant/bar insisted that there was no discrimination, but it has a long-standing 'good manners' practice to allow women a seat at the bar if the venue is very busy.  Their lawyer, David Long-Daniels, said "thousands of men have complied with those rules, including stars like Michael Jordan." "Chivalry is not dead. It's not a civil rights violation to give up your seat to a woman."