An African-American bartender is suing the Kid Rock restaurant at Little Caesars Arena in Detroit, claiming she was fired because of her skin color and for wearing "her hair natural, in a curly afro" instead of straight like her white co-workers, according to a lawsuit filed this week in federal court.
Carinne Silverman-Maddox, of Oakland County, was the only black bartender at the restaurant on Oct. 13, the first day she'd changed her hair, when she was "abruptly suspended and dismissed for allegedly overpouring a single drink," according to a race discrimination lawsuit filed Tuesday. It adds that white co-workers were pouring drinks the same way and had been approached over it, but they were able to keep their jobs.
After the suspension, Silverman-Maddox alleges she was fired because her attorney had sent the defendants a letter indicating she'd contacted the Michigan Department of Civil Rights. The complaint describes the termination as retaliation "for protected activity in violation of her rights" under federal civil-rights law.
The complaint calls the restaurant Kid Rock's Made in America, but the address it lists is for Kid Rock's Made in Detroit restaurant. The plaintiff's attorneys, Anthony Paris and John Philo, didn't immediately respond to Free Press requests for comment.
This is at least the third federal lawsuit in the past six months alleging racial discrimination against an employee by a business in Detroit's downtown or Midtown areas.
On Tuesday, a former human resource coordinator at the Detroit Foundation Hotel filed suit alleging racist behavior of all sorts, including banning some black employees from attending an anniversary party because they are “not polished,” “dirty” and shouldn’t “mix in with our VIP guests.”
In August, a former events and promotions manager filed suit against Founders Brewing Co. in Midtown alleging racial slurs and that he was passed up for promotions based on race; the brewery issued a statement calling the allegations "baseless," WXYZ-TV (Channel 7) reported.
More: Lawsuit: Detroit Foundation Hotel is racist toward black workers
More: Former Founders Brewing employee sues over racial discrimination
Kid Rock in May 2011 received a Great Expectations Award from Detroit's NAACP. That was the night, a spokesman previously said, that the Detroit star quietly decided he would stop using the Confederate flag onstage. The flag is largely seen as an offensive and racist symbol, while defenders call it an enduring emblem of Southern heritage.
Kid Rock opened Little Caesars Arena in September 2017 with six sold-out shows, and the inaugural concert drew about 200 protesters opposed to the musician's presence as well as the arena more generally. One protester told the Free Press that having Kid Rock at the inaugural event was a slap in the face to Detroiters. Critics cited his past use of the flag and other statements and incidents they felt were racially insensitive.
The management company for Kid Rock, whose real name is Robert Ritchie, didn't immediately respond Thursday to a request for comment on Silverman-Maddox's lawsuit. Kid Rock is not named as a defendant.
The suit does name as defendants Bobby Moscow LLC, which is Kid Rock's Made in Detroit company, and Top Dog Records, the Detroit music star's record label. Both companies are described as restaurant co-owners in the complaint, and Bobby Moscow did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The lawsuit's defendants also include Delaware North Companies and subsidiary Detroit District Sportservice, the hospitality company operating the restaurant as the food, beverage and retail partner at Little Caesars Arena as well as nearby Comerica Park.
Delaware North on Thursday released a brief statement to the Free Press: “We are aware of the complaint and are investigating."
Before this incident, Silverman-Maddox had never received "any level of discipline or negative coaching regarding her job performance," according to the complaint. It states that she poured drinks as she'd been trained and that every bartender frequently "free poured" drinks because of insufficient measuring devices.
The day of the suspension, Silverman-Maddox claims she had disputed to her managers that she over-poured a drink and denied any allegation of doing it on purpose. The lawsuit also alleges that the same managers who disciplined Silverman-Maddox had "previously instructed bartenders to 'free pour drinks heavily' any time Kid Rock is present in the building."
Silverman-Maddox alleges in the suit that she found out that on the same day she was suspended, a white employee was caught not checking customer IDs, a violation of policy and law, but was only given a verbal warning.
The lawsuit describes Silverman-Maddox as the only African-American bartender of about 15 employed at the restaurant; it also describes her as having both African-American and Jewish ancestry.
In a letter to the restaurant's ownership, Silverman-Maddox's attorney filed a request for records potentially connected to the case, including security footage the night of the incident as well as during the following events: Mike Epps Platinum Comedy Tour, Foo Fighters on Oct. 15 and any appearance of Kid Rock at the restaurant.
Contact Robert Allen on Twitter @rallenMI or rallen@freepress.com. Free Press staff writers Tresa Baldas and Brian McCollum contributed to this report.
https://www.freep.com/story/news/local/michigan/detroit/2019/01/31/kid-rock-restaurant-detroit-racism-lawsuit/2730682002/ 2019-01-31 19:33:00Z
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