Aimee Walker
A teenager claims she was kicked out of a restaurant over her ‘inappropriate’ top.
Sanai Butler visited the Lula Restaurant Distillery in New Orleans, US, to celebrate her graduation when she was told that she would need to leave because of her attire, reports NOLA.com.
The 17-year-old alleges that she was approached by the owner’s wife and eventually, police were called to the scene.
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Sanai’s mum, La Shawn Butler, explained that her daughter was approached when she went to the bathroom and not upon entering the building.
She told WDSU: “You were here when we walked in. If there was anything wrong with what she had on, you should have said something at that time.
“Not after we had spent well over $2,000 at your establishment. This is when she called the police.”
Sanai then added that it was a ‘horrible and sad experience’ that she had to deal with.
According to a witness of the incident, the restaurant – that doesn’t have a dress code on its site – inflicted ‘big racist energy’ when the owners decided to call the police.
On Twitter, the woman wrote: “We saw two cop cars pull up with lights on and the officers came out and the owner of Lula came outside and was talking to the officer.
“One of the adults was talking to the other officer. The rest of the family came out. They were videoing. The owner of Lula called the cops on a teenager because she felt she wasn’t dressed appropriately.
“Now they had been in the restaurant for at least two hours before this happened. What was the issue?!”
The witness then continued by describing Sanai as a ‘beautiful, young black girl’ who carried ‘wonderful, joyous energy’.
Since the restaurant has received backlash over how the situation was handled, the owners have released a brief statement.
It reads: “We would like to apologise to all of our patrons who were dining with us at the time, our longtime customers, and particularly to any person who feels that Lula discriminated against them based on their attire or race.
“We are working with our team, including management and ownership, to determine what should have been done differently and to ensure an enjoyable restaurant and dining environment for everyone.”
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