Nine Black women in Virginia are suing a high-end steakhouse for $5 million, after a celebratory dinner with friends turned humiliating. The group says Cork & Bull Chophouse in Chesapeake, VA, kicked them out after a fight broke out nearby between two other women who weren’t with them.

Dressed alike in white tops and denim for a Friendsgiving-style dinner last year, the lawsuit specifies they were "visibly distinguishable from all other patrons" when two other Black diners at a different table began to fight.

Soon after, police arrived and interviewed eyewitnesses and staff, and confirmed the nine women were not involved in the brawl. However, the group says management approached them and said they would not be served and had to leave.

"[They] told us that they will not be servicing us tonight, that we had to leave," said Shakoya Somerville-Holt, one of the plaintiffs, to News 3. She then asked, “Are you shutting the entire restaurant down for tonight?” To which management allegedly replied, “No, we're just not serving you all, because y'all like to fight."

Dallas Walton, a Cork & Bull chef, then approached the women aggressively while they were gathering their belongings and said, "I run this [expletive]" and "Get the [expletive] out."

The women say the experience left them traumatized, with at least one seeking medical care for stress and others avoiding dining out altogether. Their attorney says they’re demanding accountability, not just a payout, arguing the incident reflects how Black women are still stereotyped as aggressive and disposable in public spaces.

Restaurant owner Robert “Brian” Mullins has doubled down, calling the discrimination claims a “false attack” in an open letter, and continues to support his staff’s decision and behavior that night. 

"We chose not to go back and forth in the media and instead spent the past 80+ days reviewing our cameras and investigating how our staff reacted, right or wrong, and what was said," the statement reads. "This investigation provided evidence in overwhelming support of the decisions made by our team that evening."

He says since the incident, the business has faced threats, protests, and major revenue hits, and argues his family doesn’t operate “with regard to race.”