Flight co-owner removed after protests
Flight Restaurant & Wine Bar coowner Russ Graham is no longer associated with the eatery amid ongoing allegations of racism and sexism, according to a Facebook post from the restaurant.
The move follows several days of protests at restaurants owned by Graham, including demonstrators shouting at patrons over bullhorns and telling them to stay away.
A statement from co-owner Tom Powers, read by Councilman JB Smiley during a Memphis City Council Meeting Tuesday evening, said Graham’s ownership stakes in Flight and three other local restaurants would be bought out.
Powers will now be the sole owner of all four restaurants. Graham did not respond to a request for comment Tuesday evening.
Graham’s departure is one of three steps announced by the restaurant Tuesday.
“First, Russ Graham is no longer going to be an owner, affiliated with, or an employee in any fashion with any of the restaurants,” according to the Facebook post.
The restaurant said it will also bring in a human resources group to “evaluate all policies, procedures and standards to make sure we are taking care of our employees.”
“Third, we will also conduct an investigation to determine if there were any violations that we need to address,” the post said. “To the extent we learn of any, we will deal with it directly. As many of these claims were made online, we must review them thoroughly to decide how best to move forward.”
The human resources group was not named. It is also unclear who will conduct the investigation.
In addition to Flight, Porch & Parlor in Midtown, Southern Social in Germantown and Coastal Fish Company in Shelby Farms Park were all owned by Graham and Powers.
Allegations of racist and sexist behavior at Southern Social and Flight emerged on social media last week. The bulk of the criticism was directed toward Flight.
More than a dozen people, who posted anonymously but claimed to be former Flight employees, said Black diners were routinely seated upstairs or near the back of the dining area so that they wouldn’t be seen from the street. Social media posters also accused Flight and Southern Social of discriminating against Black candidates for jobs requiring customer interaction.
In a previous statement from Flight, the restaurant denied policies existed to seat Black patrons in certain areas and said more than 60% of the restaurant’s seating was upstairs.
Protesters gathered outside Flight, Porch & Parlor
Since the accusations of discriminatory behavior against the restaurants emerged, protests have popped up outside multiple eateries. On Monday, for instance, more than 50 people demonstrated outside of Porch & Parlor in Overton Square after Flight closed early to avoid having protesters gather outside.
The protesters said Monday they would continue to demonstrate nightly until Porch & Parlor shuts down.
At 7:20 p.m. Tuesday, only two diners were visible in the outside seating area of Porch & Parlor. Metal barricades had been set up near the entrance, apparently to separate the protesters from diners. But at that time, no protesters were visible.
LJ Abraham, the 39-year-old activist who had played a key role in organizing demonstrations against the restaurants, was among a group of about 75 people present around 8 p.m. Tuesday in the Downtown plaza that includes City Hall, police headquarters and other government buildings. This demonstration was organized by Memphis-midsouth Democratic Socialists of America, and leaders of the group said they planned to stay all night.
Abraham said she went to Porch & Parlor restaurant earlier Tuesday and saw the barricades. She said one of the managers came out, offered some water and told her the news about Graham. She asked to have a meeting arranged with the other owner and said she wants to receive written confirmation of Graham’s ownership status, as well as assurances about how the restaurant group plans to change going forward.
“Otherwise we will continue to occupy the spaces,” she said, adding she was holding off on more protests for the moment, but planned to continue soon against other businesses she believes are using racist practices.
About 9:30 p.m. on Tuesday, a reporter drove past Porch & Parlor in Midtown and saw what appeared to be a small group of people demonstrating outside. By the time the reporter parked and walked back, the group had left.
Flight’s full statement
The full text of the Facebook post from Flight regarding Graham is below.
Over the past couple of days accusations made against Flight Restaurant have circulated online and in the media. As an ownership team, we found these accusations both disturbing and unsettling. To the extent we have been insensitive, we are sorry. To prove we mean it, we are going to take firm action, as discussed below.
First, we want to address the pain our employees and guests may have encountered. As owners, we apologize for what everyone impacted has been experiencing. We sincerely want to apologize for that.
Ultimately our mission is to enrich the lives of our guests and employees and to create raving fans. Our goal is to do this through superior quality food and beverages, legendary customer service, sales growth, cost controls, and treating our employees like family. We believe that our employees are our most important resource. Our success depends upon creating and retaining a staff capable of delivering a consistently exceptional experience for every customer, every time.
The ownership group wants to make sure that we protect the families that earn a living in our restaurants. As such, we are going to start from the top and do everything we can to protect our teams to make sure they have the ability to work in a safe environment that is sensitive to their needs.
Here is what we are doing.
First, Russ Graham is no longer going to be an owner, affiliated with, or an employee in any fashion with any of the restaurants.
Second, we are bringing in a Human Resources firm to evaluate all policies, procedures and standards to make sure we are taking care of our employees.
Third, we will also conduct an investigation to determine if there were any violations that we need to address. To the extent we learn of any, we will deal with it directly. As many of these claims were made online, we must review them thoroughly to decide how best to move forward.
As a management group, we want to make clear that we will not tolerate in any of our restaurant groups – discrimination in any form, against any group. We are going to treat everyone completely equally and we also want be clear we will not accept abusive behavior by owners, managers or other team members to any other person.
We want to foster a culture that is safe for everyone. We are dedicated to treating everyone with respect and dignity. This is our direction, this is what we want you to know.
We look forward to serving the community for years to come. We hope you will trust our team to serve you in the future.
Reporter Sam Hardiman contributed to this story.
Laura Testino covers education and children’s issues for the Commercial Appeal. Reach her at laura.testino@commercialappeal.com or 901-512-3763. Find her on Twitter: @Ldtestino
Corinne Kennedy is a reporter for the Commercial Appeal. She can be reached via email at Corinne.kennedy@commercialappeal.com or on Twitter @Corinneskennedy