‘False Attack’: Restaurant Owner Stands By Team’s Decision to Kick Out 9 Black Women After Fight Between 2 Other Black People, Leading to $5M Lawsuit
The owner of a Virginia restaurant where nine Black women were asked to leave following a brawl inside the establishment between two other Black people is defending his team's actions the night of the incident. The owners of Cork & Bull Raw Bar and Chophouse in Chesapeake are facing a $5 million lawsuit filed by a group of Black women who are accusing the restaurant of racial discrimination. Nine Black women (on right, standing: Tenisha Jones, Ashley McNair, Shakoya Holt, Ashley Pickens, Anquonette Bazemore; sitting: Tenisha Barnes, Tammika Patterson, Kimberly Boney and Crystal McCabe) who went to Cork & Bull Chophouse in Chesapeake, Virginia, on Nov. 6, 2025, said they were told to leave the restaurant after two other Black women unknown to them were involved in a physical fight. (Photos: Cork & Bull Chophouse Facebook page, JMG Legal) The women said they were kicked out of the restaurant in November after a fight broke out between two other women who weren't part of their party. After the fight ended, the women said a manager approached them and told them they had to leave the restaurant "because you all like to fight," despite the fact that they weren't affiliated with the two people who fought. ‘Delete That Right Now!’: Florida Man Caught In Racist Rant at 7-Eleven Is Republican Candidate for Florida House Who Now Faces Investigation The restaurant owner, Robert Mullins, posted a letter on Facebook to all past and future clients stating that he conducted his own investigation, reviewed surveillance video, and said that the evidence provided "overwhelming support of the decisions made by our team that evening." Open Letter to all Past and Future Clients of Cork & Bull Chophouse and Raw Bar. Hello. My wife, Teresa and I have called Hampton Roads, home, all our 66 years. We have worked together and started several businesses including several restaurants. An unprecedented event occurred on November 6, 2025, where a 3 top of women, celebrating one of their birthdays, disrupted dinner service by openly brawling in the middle of the main Dining Room. During this altercation, a table of nine (9) women, adjacent to the 3 top, was impacted by having chairs turned over as their table was knocked into by the fighting women. These women decided to unjustly accuse Cork & Bull Restaurant and its staff of being discriminatory and racist when asked to leave. 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. This investigation provided evidence in overwhelming support of the decisions made by our team that evening. The damage to Cork & Bull Chophouse and Raw Bar (M&M Hospitality Group) reputation and revenue is substantial. Numerous threats to the staff were called in, threatening emails were sent and "staged" protests outside the restaurant were coordinated to disrupt our service. We recently provided an opportunity to the 9 women to sit down with us to discuss the action by both parties that evening. This opportunity was refused. We look forward to the total vindication of everyone on the Cork & Bull team in relation to the portrayal of these events. No one should endure this type of false attack and when such is evident, as this is and will be, it must be challenged. We welcome all guests to drop by, Cork & Bull Chophouse to understand our high bar for quality hospitality and dedication to service in a respectful, stress-free environment. Those that have known my wife and myself for the past 40+ years, know we operate our businesses without regard to race, sex or age employing hundreds of families. For our family to be called racists, you do not know us. Robert "Brian" Mullins Jovan Malbon-Griffin, the attorney representing the nine women who filed the suit, challenged Mullins' claim that he invited the women to sit down and talk. She told WTKR she previously offered to speak with the owners, since her clients don't feel comfortable revisiting the restaurant, but the owners never responded to her. Shakoya Somerville-Holt, one of the plaintiffs, previously spoke out to local news outlets, describing the restaurant's refusal to serve her and her friends as humiliating. "The management came over to our table and told us that they will not be servicing us tonight, that we had to leave," Somerville-Holt said. "I questioned, 'Are you shutting the entire restaurant down for tonight?' 'No, we're just not serving you all, because y'all like to fight.'" Police arrived and confirmed the women had no part in the fight. When they went back inside to collect their things, one of the chefs approached them and aggressively yelled, "I run this " and "Get the out," the lawsuit states.
