Online fight over 'bikini bar' leads owner to seek police help

The owner of a local sports bar that features waitresses in short denim shorts and bikini tops says ongoing harassment, including threats to burn his bar down, led him to seek help from police.

Squeeze Play Sports Bar opened Sept. 2 in downtown Springfield. Later that month, a negative Facebook review, and the bar's response, started an online war of sorts.

Erin Booher Wheaton posted: "Won't be spending my money anywhere that uses women's bodies as a selling point or a way to advertise. Is it mandatory for women you employ to wear a bikini? Or can (they) dress in jeans and a T-shirt like the men?"

The bar's account responded to the one-star review with a long post that included, "Well we won't be spending money at Blue Skies Hair Salon either, where you work, but you don't see us posting negative reviews on your Facebook page!" and "yes (our) girls wear shorts and a bikini top, and they look nice and are respectable. And yes the guys dress differently and I doubt anyone would want them wearing a bikini top!"

Wheaton, speaking to the News-Leader earlier this month, said she posted a "vague status explaining how upset I was that a local business had treated me so poorly after a review" and that led to many people posting additional negative reviews on the bar's Facebook page.

Within a few days, the page had more than 150 one-star reviews, which is the lowest grade on Facebook's rating system.

The bar's owner, Chris Dunn, said his employees, particularly the waitresses, were offended and wanted to defend themselves online.

"Our business was being attacked by someone who had never been a customer or even come in," he said. "After that happened, I had people calling the business, threatening me."

He said he received more than 300 phone calls, so he took his number off the Facebook page, but left the page up, to allow employees to defend themselves if they wished.

"They can speak out how they choose," Dunn said.

Wheaton said her initial post was made "based on my personal opinion of the establishment's dress code. Nothing more."

She said the issue gained steam when someone posting on the bar's page argued with every negative review. She said that caused even more negative reviews.

"Shortly after, Squeeze Play began to accuse me of trying to get people to leave negative reviews for me," Wheaton said. "I, in no way, shape, or form, ever asked a single person to write any kind of review on Squeeze Play's page."

Dunn believes the ongoing dispute led someone to create a fake Facebook page for the bar.

The page used images of his bar, but changed the bar's name to a specific sex act.

Dunn said the creation of that page, which included a false post about the bar having burned down, and anonymous people calling and threatening to burn down the bar, led him to call police.

According to the police report filed on Monday, Dunn told officers "a group of people who identify themselves as feminists have been threatening Dunn and his business.

He said he has been getting multiple harassing phone calls a day.

He said the callers are mostly males, "but some females are calling as well."

Dunn said he provided police with information about the fake Facebook page and hopes officers can get information about the creators of the page.

"Dunn was willing to prosecute," the report says.

Police spokeswoman Lisa Cox said Thursday that the case hasn't been assigned and "it doesn't appear that it will be."

She explained that it will be difficult to prove because there is no record of the harassing calls and the department has a high volume of cases.

Dunn said he has a prepaid phone that does not keep a log of calls.