A Black couple is filing a federal lawsuit against a restaurant after the white manager allegedly accused them of smelling like marijuana and kicking the couple out of the establishment, per NBC News.
Dechandria Bass and her boyfriend, Dwan Brown, met up with his mother and cousin at Houston's Restaurant on Poplar Avenue in Memphis on August 7, 2022, according to documents filed on Thursday, May 11. Soon after they were seated, restaurant manager Kayla Hollins reportedly approached the Mississippi couple's table and told them to leave.
Hollins allegedly told them they "smelled like weed," which left the couple confused because they knew they didn't smell like marijuana. Bass and Brown thought the manager was speaking to someone else until she brought a police officer over to their table.
“I asked you to leave and come back tomorrow because you smell like weed," Hollins told the couple, according to court records. Bass and Brown ended up getting escorted out of the eatery, the lawsuit claims.
"My clients have remained adamant that they did not smoke weed or smell like weed and say they were victims of racial profiling,” Carlos Moore, an attorney representing the couple, said in a statement. “We try to negotiate with Houston’s to try to keep this out of federal court, but Houston’s corporate office would not negotiate or respond to us in any way.”
The lawyer called the manager's marijuana accusation a new way to discriminate against Black customers in the restaurant industry, even deeming it "Jim Crow era 2.0."
The racial discrimination lawsuit names Hollins; the restaurant; its parent company Hillstone Restaurant Group Inc.; and general manager Ralph Price as defendants. Bass and Brown are reportedly seeking at least $500,000 in damages for embarrassment, humiliation, and emotional distress.
NBC News said Hollins couldn't be reached for comment on Wednesday (May 17). A person who answered the restaurant's phone claims the manager no longer works there, but a representative for Hillston Restaurant Group didn't confirm the status of Hollins' employment to reporters.
The parent company also issued a statement about the incident:
“While we do not comment on pending litigation, our Company does not discriminate as anyone who has ever dined at our restaurant can attest. We are proud [that] guests of all races choose to dine regularly at Houston’s and appreciate our hospitality.”
This wasn't the first time this reportedly happened at Houston Restaurant. WHBQ previously reported that another Black couple, a police officer and a high school principal, were asked to leave by a female manager. While the manager wasn't identified, she also accused them of smelling like marijuana.
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