Davos restaurateur fined for discrimination after sledge incident

A picturesque winter view over the mountain town of Davos, southeastern Switzerland. Keystone / Gian Ehrenzeller

The operator of a mountain restaurant in Davos has been given a conditional fine for racial discrimination after refusing to hire sledges to Jewish guests, in a case that sparked headlines earlier this year.

The restaurateur was found guilty of discrimination by refusing service on the basis of race, ethnicity or religion, canton Graubünden public prosecutor Franco Passini said on Wednesday in response to a report in the Südostschweiz newspaper.

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He was sentenced by the Graubünden public prosecutor’s office by way of a penalty order. Passini did not disclose the amounts of the penalties, which include both a conditional and a concrete fine. The judgement is legally binding.

The tenant of the restaurant in the small Davos ski resort of Pischa had refused to rent out sledges and other sports equipment to Jewish tourists in winter, a decision he had made known by sticking up a notice in Hebrew at the hire counter.

The letter stated that various “annoying incidents” had led to the rental stop. For example, sledges had not been returned and had simply been left on the slopes, the landlord later told media.

The case grabbed national media attention in February and triggered numerous public discussions, not only in Graubünden.

The Swiss Federation of Jewish Communities (SIG) told the Keystone-SDA news agency that the incident marked a “new level of brazenness”. Meanwhile the Davos-Klosters tourism body immediately distanced itself from the actions of the restaurant owner, with its CEO Reto Branschi saying that the notice was “very poorly worded” and not in the interests of the area.

At the same time, dealing with some orthodox Jewish guests was difficult, Branschi told Keystone-SDA.  “This group finds it difficult to abide by the rules here and sometimes behaves extremely disrespectfully towards hosts and other service providers”, he said.

In view of the media storm, the restaurant operator apologised to the Jewish community on the first day of the rental ban. The notice had “certainly been worded incorrectly”, he said.

A day later, Jewish guests were once again able to hire sledges in Pischa.

Translated from German by DeepL/dos

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