Nordeen’s behavior, but that does not appear to be the case.” In response to the allegations, the restaurant (which operates locations in several states), released the following statement: “Eddie Merlot’s is a discrimination-free workplace. “Eddie Merlot’s should be more upset than anyone by Mr. He’s also accused of implementing “ Jim Crow segregation” by seating Black and white customers separately, according to the filing, saying he wanted Black servers to serve Black customers “because it made him feel more comfortable than having Caucasian servers do so.”Īccording to the Metro Times, Attorney Zach Runyan says that the restaurant seems to have sided with Nordeen and that during a historic labor shortage, he let the employees quit rather than stop the racist behavior. Nordeen allegedly joked about shoving watermelon down the throats of Black children, mocked Sunday church hats worn by Black women, accusing Black customers of being on drugs, and made other racially charged commentary, according to the complaint. Instead, staff allege that Nordeen refused to change his behavior and offered workers a raise to stay. According to a lawsuit filed against Eddie Merlot’s and the restaurant’s general manager Curtis Nordeen, sous chef James Gaines, who is Black, and his co-workers claim they warned Nordeen in July that if he did not stop making racist comments, they would walk off the job. READ MORE: The latest local and national news headlinesĬopyright 2021 by WDIV ClickOnDetroit - All rights reserved.Six employees at a Bloomfield Hills steakhouse have walked off the job for fostering an alleged racist work environment. At this time it would be inappropriate to discuss the details, but we have started an investigation into the allegations and will take appropriate action if the allegations are deemed to be true,” read the statement. The company has a clear policy against any form of discrimination or a hostile work environment. Eddie Merlot’s does not tolerate discrimination. “Eddie Merlot’s did receive a complaint from three former employees that there was a racially hostile environment in our Bloomfield Hills restaurant. They spend a lot of money,” said Dixon.Įddie Merlot’s Corporate Office released this statement. “The management himself explained to an employee what that day was and his explanation was, ‘Oh you know when the old Black ladies come in from church, with their ugly, stupid hats. He had complaints about the same manager. He was one of the employees who also quit. “I started to notice more and more patterns of like disrespect coming from management towards employees, towards patrons of the restaurant and definitely towards, you know people of color, both people coming into eat and people who work there,” said Dixon, a former food runner at the restaurant. Several employees also walked out, including Blake Dixon. “If customers arrived at the reservation late, he will say things as of ‘CPT’, if you don’t know what CPT means, that’s colored people time and by him being maybe a 58 or 59-year-old Caucasian, I don’t think that was funny,” said Gaines. That’s why he’s speaking out about what he claims was a hostile working environment and comments made by one of the managers. Gaines said he had enough of working at the Eddie Merlot’s location in Bloomfield Hills. Update: Civil rights lawsuit alleges racial harassment at Eddie Merlot’s in Bloomfield Hills I heard things, I seen things,” said former Eddie Merlot’s chef, James Gaines. It’s been other employees who said they seen it. “Just mistreating different families depending honestly on the race. Those claims include one about a manager using racial comments against guests. – A national restaurant chain is looking into several claims regarding hostile working conditions made by former employees.
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