California waitress who kicked Silicon Valley CEO out for racist attack on Asian family gets $40,000 in tips
A waitress in California was tipped a whopping $40,000 after she removed a racially insensitive Silicon Valley entrepreneur from a restaurant.
Michael Lofthouse, 37, was escorted out of the Lucia restaurant in Carmel Valley by server Gennica Cochran after he verbally abused an Asian family enjoying a meal on the Fourth of July. "Trump is going to f**k you. You f*****s need to leave. F*****g Asian piece of s**t," he is heard saying on camera, as the family sings on their table.
Cochran was applauded by observers who donated thousands of dollars to her tip jar. Speaking to KGO-TV, the waitress said "something came over" her when she decided to act immediately after Lofthouse's racist abuses. During the outburst, the British CEO of Solid8, a tech firm, called diner Jordan Chan and her family a "f***ing Asian piece of s**t."
"I felt very protective of them," Cochran told the outlet. "To hear the emotion coming out of my voice, to see my mannerisms, it was unbelievable it was just something that came over me and I just did what needed to be done." "I did what anybody else should or would do in that situation," she added.
Cochran explained she couldn't let racial abuse ruin her customers' first experience at the restaurant after it reopened following the coronavirus pandemic. According to KGO-TV, the family had been celebrating a birthday at the Bernardus Lodge and Spa's Lucia restaurant when Lofthouse launched his verbal attack. Cochran, in a matter of seconds, confronted Lofthouse over his conduct. "You do not talk to a guest like that, you need to leave now," she is heard saying in a viral footage.
In a statement, Lofthouse apologized for his behavior later and called it “appalling”. He said: “My behaviour in the video is appalling. This was clearly a moment where I lost control and made incredibly hurtful and divisive comments. I would like to deeply apologize to the Chan family. I can only imagine the stress and pain they feel. I was taught to respect people of all race and I will take the time to reflect on my actions and work to better understand the inequality that so many of those around me face every day.”
The Chan family, however, wasn't ready to accept the apology. Jordan Chan’s uncle Raymond Oroso said: “He’s just saving face. I think he really meant what he said and what he did (at the restaurant),” he said.
Lofthouse's parents in Morpeth, UK, became aware of the incident within hours of the clip sparking outrage in the US. "We are completely devastated and appalled by his behavior," mother Linda Lofthouse, 67, told the Daily Mail through tears. "All I want to say is that we apologize unreservedly to the family and to anyone else it has offended."
Linda couldn't bear that anyone would consider her family racist due to the actions of her son, who she said had been suffering from addiction issues. "We are in a dreadful situation. He is very sick — if he had cancer people would understand better but he hasn't, he has an addiction problem," she continued. "It's just disastrous, we have been dealing with this for a long time." Lofthouse's brother Richard, whose wife is of Asian descent, contacted the Chan family and apologized.
"We have apologized to the family, my son has had a reply from them and they understand that we have absolutely no control over what he does. He has massive issues," she said. The heartbroken mother said the family had tried several times to help Lofthouse, but in vain.
"We can't have him here and none of the rest of the family can have him; he is just a loose cannon," she explained. "At our age, we cannot handle addiction, we have tried, we have had him here and it was horrendous. In no way are we racist we just don't have anything to do with whatever he said," she added.
Having said that, the Lofthouses operate a successful property firm. Michael's two brothers are both respected businessmen in the community.