Davos, Switzerland restaurant manager fined after refusing service to Jews

Prosecutors announced Wednesday that a restaurant manager in the Swiss ski resort town of Davos has been fined for refusing to rent winter sports equipment to Jewish customers.

The manager was sentenced to a fine and a suspended fine for "discrimination by refusing to provide services on the grounds of race, ethnicity or religion,” local authorities told AFP.

Local newspaper 20minuten published a photo in February of a sign put up at the plush Pischa station above Davos, the resort known for hosting the World Economic Forum. The sign said the business would “no longer rent sports equipment to our Jewish brothers” due to various incidents “including the theft of a sled.”

20minuten said that the restaurant "no longer want the daily hassle" of dealing with Jewish guests leaving equipment on the slopes or "returned defective.”

The restaurant manager would reverse his decision after backlash.

"The penal order is final. We will not provide any further details on the sanction," said the prosecutor's office.

The legal complaint was filed by the Swiss Federation of Jewish communities.

"We are pleased that the public prosecutor's office acted quickly and consistently," the group’s general secretary Jonathan Kreutner told AFP.

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