Man with facial disfigurement asked to leave restaurant for ‘scaring customers’: ‘I hadn’t even sat down’

 Man with facial disfigurement asked to leave restaurant for ‘scaring customers’: ‘I hadn’t even sat down’

Oliver Bromley, 42, was undergoing treatment at King’s College Hospital in Camberwell, southeast London, and had decided to get lunch at a local restaurant.

But after attempting to order food, Bromley says staff told him they’d received complaints from customers — and asked him to leave.

Though disheartened and upset by his ejection, he hopes it could now lead to better education on conditions such as his for those working in the hospitality industry.

Charity Nerve Tumours UK revealed that incidents such as this were unfortunately “not uncommon,” but have organized meetings with UKHospitality to call for better education in the industry.

Bromley lives with Neurofibromatosis Type 1 — a genetic condition that causes benign, non-cancerous tumors to grow on his nerves.

Whilst receiving treatment in August related to his condition at King’s College Hospital from specialist surgeons Dr. Ben Robertson and Nicholas Thomas — of whom he is full of high praise — he opted for a change from hospital food and decided to eat out.

Bromley, who helps run an NHS mental health crisis helpline but is currently off work, said: “I decided to take myself for lunch.

“The food looked good when I looked in one window, and I went inside.

“They said they were cash only, so I took some money out and went to place my order.

“The gentleman behind the counter told me there had been complaints about me, and for me to please leave.

“I asked him to repeat himself, and he said I was scaring customers.”

Bromley, who lives in Reigate, Surrey, said he was “incredulous” at what the employee told him, as he had hardly been in the restaurant long enough for someone to complain about his presence.

“I hadn’t even sat down,” he continued. “I went to place my order and they asked me to leave.

“Perhaps they had seen me browsing, perhaps they didn’t want me in there …

“I don’t know, but that is what they said. These are the facts.

“Obviously, I was very upset. I went to a local park to console myself and think of a plan of action on how to deal with it.”

Bromley, who is originally from South Africa, personally wrote to the restaurant, which he does not wish to name, but received no response.

He then contacted the Met Police, who recorded the incident as a hate crime.

The Met confirmed to the BBC that officers had visited Bromley about the incident and that although no arrests had been made, the force took “reports of hate crime seriously.”

Bromley added that though he’s often forced to deal with people staring at him, he’s never before experienced anything as “direct” as his ejection from the restaurant.