TLC legend Tionne “T-Boz” Watkins has shared a harrowing account of racial profiling she experienced at a Ruth’s Chris Steakhouse. In a video posted to her social media, the singer described how she was treated differently than other patrons at the restaurant.
In 2011, Ruth’s Chris was hit with a class action discrimination suit. According to THE lawsuit, former female employees claimed that the company routinely discriminates against women in pay, promotions, and terminations, as well as maintaining a “sexually-charged” work environment in which they were subjected to “sexually hostile and demeaning behavior” from male coworkers and supervisors.
On Saturday (Aug. 31), TBoz also laid bare her grievances regarding being spoken to inappropriately at one of the restaurant’s locations in North Brook Township, North Carolina. She rehashed the details in a carousel of videos posted on Instagram.
The TLC singer began by explaining that she had been traveling all day and was still in comfortable attire, a T-shirt and black hat. She detailed that the first issue was that she and her company were ignored upon entry. Soon after settling down and placing orders, a manager approached them.
“She says that I have to take off my hat,” recalled T-Boz. The four-time Grammy Award winner and her group were told to move the bar area, which she agreed to do.
However, she noticed two Black men in casual wear and hats seated behind her and allowed to finish their meals. When asked why the other guests were allowed to remain seated, she was informed that the men were also told to move according to house rules.
“My thing is, I don’t have a problem with rules, following it, whatever, but it’s how you do things, too,” “No Scrubs” songstress explained,
According to her, multiple staff members saw her hat. Still, they did not request that she remove it before entering the dining area.
“If somebody would have said that, we would have gone and done it in the first place,” she said.
“Everybody’s crew looks like [they’re] seated in Massa’s section,” she said in a third video, where she rhetorically asked, “Why [are] all the Black people sitting in this section?”
She continued, “My whole thing is everybody said they felt some weird vibes at this Ruth’s Chris, so all the employees need a little taking to, even the ones running it, ’cause they ain’t running it right, honey.”
T-Boz said she and her crew left without eating.
