Restaurant Ordered to Pay $103,000 to Rejected Black but Not 5 Others

A jury on Friday told a restaurant owner to pay $103,000 to a man who was turned away because he is black but said five others should get nothing because they knew the trip was being used to test the restaurant, a lawyer said.

Charles White Jr., 26, and five other leaders of the National Assn. for the Advancement of Colored People each sought $200,000 in damages for being turned away by the Buffalo Room restaurant on Sept. 5, 1989.

The jury ruled that only White was entitled to damages because, defense attorney Richard Breibart said, he was the only one who did not know in advance that the trip was being used to test the restaurant’s admission policy.

Attorney John R. Harper said he would appeal on behalf of the five plaintiffs who were not awarded damages.

Breibart said he would appeal the award to White on behalf of his client, Buffalo Room owner Bruce Salter, 78.

The plaintiffs who did not receive any damages were Nelson Rivers III, executive director of the state NAACP, James Gallman Sr., president of the Aiken Branch of the NAACP; Aiken County Councilman Willar Hightower; the Rev. David Walker and the Rev. James Jones Jr.

Hightower testified that Salter met them on the restaurant steps and crudely told them to get off his property.

The Buffalo Room was closed after the state revoked its liquor license for refusing to serve blacks.