Restaurant accused of profiling after couple told they smelled like pot

Restaurant told couple to leave because they smelled like weed, suit says - The Washington Post

At first, Dechandria Bass and Dwan Brown didn’t realize the restaurant manager was talking to them.

They had not smoked marijuana and “knew they did not smell like weed,” the lawsuit states.

But they soon learned the manager’s comments were directed at them. Shortly after, Bass and Brown, who are both Black, were escorted out of the restaurant, Houston’s, they alleged in a lawsuit filed last week in federal district court in Tennessee. The couple have accused the restaurant’s manager, general manager and parent company, Hillstone Restaurant Group, of consumer racial profiling, among other allegations.

Carlos Moore, a Mississippi-based attorney representing Bass and Brown, said the couple were “singled out” at the restaurant because they are Black.

“They were very much humiliated and embarrassed by what happened,” Moore said. “ … They don’t smoke weed, period, and had not smoked it.”

Hillstone Restaurant Group said in a statement to The Washington Post that it would not comment on the case, citing the pending litigation, but added that it “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,” the statement said.

This past August, Bass and Brown walked into Houston’s and sat down with Brown’s mother and cousin.

The family was having a conversation when the manager walked past them, then came back. She then said they needed to leave because they smelled like marijuana, according to the lawsuit.

Bass and Brown did not react, thinking the manager was speaking to someone else, the lawsuit states.

Afterward, the manager, who is White, came back to their table with a police officer, the lawsuit alleged.

“I asked you to leave and come back tomorrow because you smell like weed,” the manager said, according to the complaint.

When the pair were escorted out, Brown’s mother and cousin were also taken out of the restaurant. They are not plaintiffs in the case.

Marijuana is illegal in Tennessee, with minor exceptions. However, in Mississippi, where Bass and Brown live, it is allowed for medicinal purposes.

During the incident, Moore said, the couple were not asked where they were from or if they had a prescription for marijuana before they were escorted out of the restaurant with their family members, though he said the couple do not smoke marijuana and had not been around it that day.

Bass and Brown also were not “exhibiting any foul body odor or aroma exhibiting an illegal substance, nor were they loud and/or disorderly,” the lawsuit states. When they were escorted out, the couple felt “humiliation, embarrassment, emotional distress, and mental anguish,” it said.

Moore notes that the restaurant has had a similar complaint before. Around the same time that Bass and Brown visited the restaurant, another couple were told to leave Houston’s for smelling like marijuana, FOX13 reported. The family told the outlet they felt like they were racially profiled.

With the new lawsuit from Bass and Brown, Moore said, he hopes Houston’s and other restaurants will incorporate diversity training for their management staff.

“People have a right to peaceably dine without being harassed and escorted out over nonsense,” he said.