Wisconsin woman says anti-Islamic bias is part of her complicated struggle to keep chocolate shop open

GRAND CHUTE - Tarina Swanson opened a Parisian-inspired candy and antique glass shop called Sapphire Moon Chocolates in late September.

That’s the most straightforward part of the story.

Whether the store survives is dependent on a jumble of issues that range from what Swanson says is discrimination against her as a Muslim to a potentially large three-year-old workers' compensation lawsuit settlement. On top of that, Facebook posts intended to help her may have ultimately hurt. 

It's complicated.   

In the shop, Swanson wavered from day one on whether she could stay open because of instances of what she said were anti-Islamic discrimination.

Customers would come into the shop at 1741 N. Casaloma Drive, see her in a traditional hijab headscarf and turn around and leave.

Swanson is a Michigan-born woman who served in the Army and Army Reserve. She converted to Islam several years ago and covers her long blonde hair with the hijab for modesty reasons.

Some of those early potential customers, she said, were openly critical of her.

“One woman assaulted me verbally and said all kinds of derogatory things. An older woman stood at the door and yelled, ‘I will never buy anything from a woman who wears a headscarf,’” she said.  

“This is not about Islam at all," she said of the store filled with chocolates, art nouveau glass dishes and old clocks. "We offer things for Christians and Jewish people. I have angels and gnomes. I’m not cramming something down your throat. There’s no symbolism in here. It’s just a store. There’s no ulterior motive behind it.” 

Given the negative reactions and walkouts, she wasn’t sure she’d get enough customers to support the shop.

Anti-Islamic discrimination is rare here, said Mohamed Abdelazim, leader of the Islamic Center of Wisconsin in Appleton, but incidents have happened.

“I believe her,” he said. “Some other members complained about similar things. It’s not very common in Appleton, but it could have happened to her.”

He said the media is responsible for creating negative reactions towards Muslims because news outlets report when terrorists are Muslims, but when terrorists are not Muslim, their religions are not mentioned. 

A well-meaning friend decided to take to social media to support her. She posted on Facebook that Swanson was a victim of anti-Muslim discrimination and everyone should shop at the struggling business.  

The posts were widely shared and brought in a swarm of customers and a line at the door. 

But the story does not end on that upbeat note. 

While the Facebook posts helped bring in customers, they also may have hurt her.

Swanson was separately coming up to the end of her three-year-old workers' compensation lawsuit against a former employer. In her prior profession, nursing, she said a patient had fallen on her and she was unable to work because of her injuries.

“I can’t lift, bend, stoop or twist. The physical stuff, I can’t do,” she said. “I still have a bad knee. I limp. I still have a bad back.”

She claimed $140,000 for knee replacements and lost lifetime wages of $410,000.

The settlement would help her pay for staffing in the store, including paying herself a wage and being able to pay her daughter to do the include heavy lifting. She'd have retirement money and funds to pay bills. She'd have an opportunity to give money to charitable causes, both those in the veterans and disabled community and those that "go into Muslim nations to promote peace and understanding with the United States and Americans." 

The twist, however, is that the Facebook posts prompted a private investigator to look into the shop. 

"We know the insurance company hired a PI. What’s unfortunate is that the positive Facebook comments reached the investigator. They sent someone and got a picture of me bending into a chocolate case. The judge decided the case against me," she said. 

The judge on Thursday in Milwaukee denied the full payout and offered her a far lesser amount.

"It did not go well because of the Facebook posts," she said. 

She didn't accept the judge's lower offer on Friday and requested a new hearing in Appleton. 

Her Milwaukee-based attorney declined to speak on the record, citing attorney-client confidentiality and the fact that the case was not yet finalized.

“Everything did ride on the settlement," Swanson said. "We’re ready to lose our house, my car. I pushed money into the shop with inventory. The purpose of the shop was to provide me with a wage. Now I’m in financial ruin.”  

The fate of the store is still up in the air.

"We have to find a way to get some capital to run it," she said. 

In the meantime, Swanson hopes that people will continue to come in to buy chocolates, soap and old clocks. She hopes they look beyond the headscarf.  

Contact reporter Maureen Wallenfang at 920-993-7116 or mwallenfang@postcrescent.com. Follow her on Twitter at @wallenfang.