Swiss restaurant fined for refusing to rent ski equipment to Jews

A restaurant manager in the Swiss ski resort of Davos has been fined for refusing to rent sports equipment to Jews, prosecutors say.

The manager has been sentenced to a fine and a suspended fine for “discrimination by refusing to provide services on the grounds of race, ethnicity or religion,” the office of the southeastern Graubunden canton’s public prosecutor tells AFP.

In February, the 20minuten newspaper published a picture of a sign put up at the plush Pischa station above Davos, the resort known for hosting the annual World Economic Forum of the globe’s business and political elites.

Skiing area near Davos, Switzerland.

Jews have been barred from renting ski equipment. pic.twitter.com/CeXOK60Apm

— Visegrád 24 (@visegrad24) February 12, 2024

The sign, in Hebrew, said that because of various incidents, “including the theft of a sled, we no longer rent sports equipment to our Jewish brothers.”

The policy applied to all winter sports equipment including sleds, airboards and snowshoes, it said, ending with “thank you for your understanding.”

20minuten said the restaurant had told the paper in a written statement that they “no longer wants the daily hassle” of Jewish guests leaving sleds on the slopes, or equipment not being returned or “returned defective.”

Following a media storm in Switzerland, the restaurant manager apologized and reversed the decision.

The size of the fine is not announced, and as the man in question did not appeal, the case has not gone to court.

“The penal order is final. We will not provide any further details on the sanction,” the prosecutor’s office says.

The Swiss Federation of Jewish Communities filed the legal complaint.

“We are pleased that the public prosecutor’s office acted quickly and consistently,” its general secretary Jonathan Kreutner tells AFP.