After they were kicked out of a Memphis, Tennessee restaurant last year for allegedly smelling like cannabis, a Black couple has filed a federal racial discrimination lawsuit against the establishment, NBC News reports.
The couple filed the suit in federal court on May 11. The Coahoma County, Mississippi couple—Dechandria Bass and her boyfriend Dwan Brown—were in Tennessee on Aug. 7, 2022 to visit Brown’s mother and cousin and met up with them at Houston’s Restaurant in Memphis, according to the suit.
According to the couple’s attorney, what was supposed to be a “great family outing” was then “ruined.” Shortly after arriving, restaurant manager Kayla Hollins, who is white, approached the group’s table and told the couple they needed to leave because “they smelled like weed,” the lawsuit states. Initially, the couple did not react and thought Hollins was talking to other guests, since they knew they didn’t smell like cannabis, the lawsuit says.
It carries on, noting that Hollins returned to the table moments later with a police officer, telling the couple, “I asked you to leave and come back tomorrow because you smell like weed.”
The lawsuit names the restaurant; its parent company, Hillstone Restaurant Group Inc.; General Manager Ralph Price; and Hollins as defendants in the case. In Tennessee, both medical and recreational cannabis use is mostly illegal with a handful of exceptions.
According to Carols Moore, the couple’s attorney, neither Bass nor Brown smoke cannabis and had not smoked the day they showed up to Houston’s last August. Moore also said his clients were discriminated against because they are Black and added that the accusation was “Jim Crow era 2.0—a new way to discriminate” in the restaurant industry.
On Wednesday, the Hillstone Restaurant Group said that it does not comment on pending litigation. The statement also said that the company “does not discriminate as anyone who has ever dined at our restaurant can attest,” additionally stating that they are proud that “guests of all races” choose to dine at Houston’s and appreciate the hospitality.
Price didn’t reply for comment left at Houston’s on Wednesday, NBC News reports, and when the publication tried to reach Hollins, the person who answered the phone at the restaurant claimed she no longer worked there. A Hillstone Restaurant Group representative was unable to confirm whether or not Hollins was still employed at Houston’s.
It’s also not an isolated incident for the Memphis restaurant.
According to a FOX13 Memphis report, police officer Marcus Mosby and his wife, a high school principal, also went to dine at Houston’s in August 2022. The couple, who is also Black, were approached by a manager and told to leave the restaurant, similarly citing that they smelled like cannabis, according to Mosby.
Other employees said they didn’t smell it, and Mosby informed the manager that neither he nor his wife smoked cannabis, though the manager insisted that customers had complained even though she was the only one walking by the table, according to Mosby.
The couple refused to leave and decided to get a second opinion. They were eventually seated, when Mosby further questioned the manager who initially denied them access.
“I said, ‘Why did you just racially profile us?’ She said, ‘I’m sorry. That was just a bad mistake.’ I said, ‘How did you smell something no one else smelled?’ She just kept apologizing,” said Mosby. According to an email from Houston’s general manager, the restaurant staff is supposed to refuse service if they detect a strong presence of cannabis odor among arriving guests and the alleged cannabis odor was misattributed to Mosby and his wife.
After sharing their story on Facebook, Mosby learned that he wasn’t the only family asked to leave the restaurant for allegedly smelling like cannabis, FOX13 reports. Additionally, the outlet reported that other businesses in the area have posted signs indicating that guests will be turned away if they smell like cannabis.
Attorney Van Turner referenced the leeway that business owners have when it comes to the patrons of their business.
“Say they say they’re kicking you out [of] the restaurant because you smell like marijuana, but it’s really because of your race or your gender or your sexual preference, or your religion. Then yes, that is very much a violation of the law,” Turner told FOX13. “To make that sort of accusation is very harmful. And I’ve heard of other issues in the past with Houston’s and other restaurants in the past.”
Bass and Brown are seeking at least $500,000 each in damages for humiliation, embarrassment and emotional distress, according to the lawsuit.
