A dispute over a 17-year-old’s attire during a graduation party at a New Orleans restaurant will now be settled in a court of law.
Sanai Butler was celebrating her graduation from Warren Easton High School at Lula Restaurant Distillery when managers called the police after raising objections to Butler’s outfit. No arrests were made by NOPD, but Butler’s mother La Shawn says her daughter was victimized by the restaurant and has been undergoing treatment by a clinical psychologist since the incident occurred, according to NOLA.com.
Now she’s taking them to court.
“The conduct of the owners of Lula was extreme, outrageous and intentional,” said the lawsuit, which was filed on July 1 in Orleans Parish Civil District Court by the Bagneris Law Firm. “As such, they are liable for the emotional distress they caused (the Butlers) to suffer.”
The restaurant’s management said in previous statements that its call to police was because of a “verbal altercation” between “three disruptive, adult patrons.”
According to the lawsuit, restaurant co-owner Erin Bourgeois approached Sanai in a restroom and called the bikini top she was wearing “very inappropriate” and asked if she could replace it. La Shawn and two other family members then confronted Bourgeois, who then called the police after the argument escalated.
The establishment also issued an apology to anyone who felt Lula “discriminated against them based on their attire or race.”
The suit alleges no dress code was posted on the Lula website or in the restaurant itself, and that a prior phone call to staff by Butler’s relatives questioning the dress code was met with an invitation to “come as you are.”
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