Longbow Pub and Pantry, an oak-paneled haven of sport and imbibition on a busy strip in Bay Ridge, Brooklyn, is a British pub through and through, from the Welsh national rugby jersey framed by the bar to the Old Speckled Hen ale in the fish-and-chips batter to the accents that ring loud off the walls during soccer broadcasts.

So when the owners needed a bartender last year, they sought someone who knew the territory. “Energetic and enthusiastic men and women with an appreciation of craft beer, good food, whisky and real football (a k a soccer),” the Craigslist ad read in part. “Being British definitely works in your favor.”

The résumés trickled in. One applicant, however, was not really looking for a job. She already had one: trolling the classifieds for the New York City Commission on Human Rights.

Soon, Longbow received a legal notice. The bar, it said, had violated discrimination law “by giving a preference to employment applicants based on their national origin.”