Mom Told To Lawyer Up After Cafe Forbids Her From Leaving Unless She Pays For The $1600 Table Her Child Knocked Over
Many think the cafe owners are about to be in major legal trouble.
Ekaterina Pokrovsky | Shutterstock A mom has touched off a viral uproar on TikTok after sharing the story of a mishap she had with her little girl in a New Jersey cafe. According to the mom, the owners of Hazelnut Cafe would not allow her to leave the establishment after her child accidentally knocked over and broke an expensive marble table they were seated at.
Her post has sparked outrage because of the way the cafe's ownership allegedly handled the incident, which many people, including some lawyers online, said was not only a liability issue but potentially a crime.
A mom has been told to lawyer up after her child broke a $1600 table at Hazelnut Cafe.
Mom and TikToker @beautihut said she was just looking for advice when she took to the app to describe what happened to her, her elderly mother, and her 3-year-old daughter during their recent debacle of a visit to Hazelnut, a boutique and cafe in Lavallette, New Jersey.
The trio had gone to Hazelnut for coffee and ice cream when a mishap occurred. Her toddler accidentally kicked over the table they were sitting at, a hefty marble console table from Anthropologie, the establishment's owners had used as a cafe table.
The table fell over and broke into several pieces. Given its weight (the mom said she was told it weighs 600 pounds, though retail listings for the table place its weight at a bit more than 100), the incident shocked her little girl and startled her mother. "I was so grateful there was nobody else on the other end of that table because, you know, their leg could have been amputated," the mom said. But when she attempted to make things right by calling the owners to explain what happened, not only was she greeted with a total lack of concern or compassion, but the owners allegedly responded in a way that left pretty much everyone online shocked.
The owners reportedly barred her from leaving the cafe unless she paid for the table on the spot.
The mom was understandably unnerved by her daughter's reaction to the incident. Her normally boisterous toddler was clearly in shock, staring into space and not even asking for her mother. Nevertheless, the mom wanted to "make things right" and asked the owners what she could do to make up for the mishap.
She alleged that the owners told her that they have a firm "you break it, you buy it" policy, and that she would not be permitted to leave the cafe unless she gave them a copy of her driver's license, a credit card, and paid for the table on the spot.
When she tried to get off the phone so that she could go check on her daughter, the owners reportedly escalated the discussion, letting her know they "got everything on video," as if she were a criminal trying to flee the scene, despite the fact that she was the one who initiated the conversation in the first place.
As her story went increasingly viral, social media users began combing through Hazelnut Boutique's social media channels, finding a video of the very same table very obviously wobbling with just regular use. That video was reportedly deleted as the story grew.
Lawyers speculated that the owners could be in legal hot water for both the table and the way they handled the situation.
Users also used the the details given about the table and quickly found what they presume was the exact item at Anthropologie's site, where it appeared to be a console table meant for the home, typically placed behind a couch or against a wall, that was in no way intended to be used as a dining table in a house, let alone a restaurant.
People who are themselves restaurant owners and those who work in insurance quickly raced to the mom's comments to tell her not to pay a dime." I am a Risk Manager — you don't pay for the table, her insurance does," one person wrote. "I own a restaurant!" another commented. "A restaurant is liable even if a person trips walking into the restaurant and they break their ankle… Call a lawyer."
Lawyers on TikTok were quick to validate these takes. One such lawyer, known as @jas_the_lawyer on the app, said that not only could the cafe be liable for negligently using a table not intended for a restaurant and neglecting to secure it, but their attempts to bar the mom from leaving could amount to a "false imprisonment" charge, which is a crime in most states including New Jersey. Of course, the attorney was only offering a hot take based on the limited evidence from the online community.
For their part, Hazelnut posted a response on their social media channels in which they denied most aspects of the mom's story, writing that "the child showed no signs of distress" in surveillance footage, that they did not attempt to "hold anyone against their will," and that they only asked for her contact information for "insurance purposes."
They added that their "priority has been to ensure the family felt supported and cared for," which is certainly at odds with the way the mom described the situation. Their statement has gotten no pushback, however, because the comments on the post, and every other post on their TikTok account, for that matter, have been turned off.
What's important to remember in all of this is that no matter how flat you make a pancake, it still has two sides. It's easy to point fingers and find fault depending on how a story is told. Usually, the truth lies somewhere in between. The important thing is that no one was hurt. Hopefully, lessons were learned, and the cafe will stick to restaurant supply stores for furnishings.
John Sundholm is a writer, editor, and video personality with 20 years of experience in media and entertainment. He covers culture, mental health, and human interest topics.
