A new federal lawsuit claims a white Houston’s manager in Memphis, Tennessee, accused a Black couple of smelling like marijuana before requesting they leave the restaurant last August. The complaint was filed on May 11.
According to the lawsuit, Dechandria Bass and Dwan Brown were visiting the Houston’s located at 5000 Poplar Avenue in Memphis on or around Aug. 7, 2022, from Mississippi. After they’d been seated at a table with Brown’s mother and cousin, the manager came by their table and asked them to leave while claiming they smelled “like weed.” The couple claimed they knew they did not smell like weed and remained seated.
The complaint noted that the manager — identified as Kayla Hollins — later returned to the table with a police officer and said, “I asked you to leave and come back tomorrow because you smell like weed.” The police officer then escorted the couple out of the restaurant. The restaurant’s genral manager Ralph Price is also named in the lawsuit.
Once outside, another police officer reportedly admitted to the couple that Hollins has a history of racism with the restaurant’s Black clientele and “regularly interacted this way towards Black patrons.”
Bass and Brown’s attorney Carlos Moore says the accusation his clients smelled like weed is not true, while adding there is no evidence that the couple smelled like marijuana. He claimed they were racially profiled and humiliated as a result. Moore said his clients are asking for $500,000 each in damages for “humiliation, embarrassment” and the “emotional distress” and anguish they suffered due to the actions of the Houston’s manager.
“Houston’s has a problem,” said Moore to local station WHBQ-TV of Houston’s and Hollins. “She brought a police officer with her and had them escorted out of the restaurant, embarrassed them in front of his mom and his cousin, entire restaurant.”
“Now that the lawsuit is officially…
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