North Carolina State Capitol Photo credit: John Colletti/Getty
Like marching ants, the Karens just keep on coming. This time, leading the ferocious insect army is Lisa Callahan, aka Kitchen Karen. Callahan is the former owner of Plum Southern Kitchen and Bar (now called Plum), an upscale restaurant in Durham, North Carolina. The restaurant closed like a pandemic in early July, and now we know why.
Paula Deen, the original Kitchen Karen Source: Dave Kotinsky/Getty
According to an article published last weekend, Indyweek.com, Plum's sudden closure was not due to a “normal summer break” but the restaurant's IG Page Reportedly, this comes as Kitchen Karen is experiencing a mass exodus of staff, but with prices rising, who wants to leave a secure job these days?
From Indyweek:
According to eight former Plum employees… Plum's owner Lisa Callahan, who is white, used the N-word multiple times in May. Former employees say the restaurant has now closed. [as in it had not opened for business yet that day] At the time, they were playing Kendrick Lamar's “Euphoria” while preparing dinner, and Callahan seemed upset, expressing discomfort with the song's use of the n-word, and in the process She used the word herself.
Hold on, make that make sense. She is offended by the word and yet insists on using it. Even though she admits it? Who uses the word “offending” and then repeats it? Kitchen Karen seems to have found her comfort zone. I guess she hasn't seen this amazing and widely circulated Deroy Lindo scene.
And here history loops again: Eight staff members, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, all told the same story: They quit after Kitchen Karen began constantly uttering the n–r word in May. could not. And she started firing people.
The first person to be fired? Her bartender, a black woman, who told her it was offensive to use the word. Callahan's response was, “You guys do.”
You are fired!
Kitchen Karen did apologize to staff at one point, saying they were sorry, but have not commented on the firings, likely because lawsuits and litigation continue, as Title VII protections against racism and other discrimination in the workplace and elsewhere have been the law for literally 60 years. It was part of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. And it didn't say you couldn't discriminate against black people unless they were white women. Somehow, in the real world, that seems to have been forgotten.
But firing her sister wasn't enough: Kitchen Karen also fired her executive chef, Trent Shank, whose expertise had not only made Plum a popular restaurant in the area, but also, according to staff, created a collaborative, non-toxic atmosphere in which people worked (restaurants, incidentally, are known for having toxic energy towards their employees).
Consistent with the good and honest character that former employees ascribe to Shank, he refused to side with Kitchen Karen in the battle over who should and shouldn't say the N-word. In a sorry-but-sorry email sent after his firing, Kitchen Karen informed staff, without warning, that it would be dropping the Southern Kitchen part of its name (but keeping the Southern food image).
Then she dropped the shocking news: the restaurant would be temporarily closing (its now-inaccessible website said it would be closed for eight days, from July 2-10; as of today, the restaurant remains closed).
At that point, a mass exodus occurred: No one was waiting for Kitchen Karen to suddenly start acting rationally or humanely.
All in the Family
At the end of the email, Kitchen Karen wrote that she hoped the staff enjoyed themselves. unpaid Time off. (Kitchen Karen also reportedly gave the fired bartender $700 in severance pay, and said she hoped it would be considered a “good faith” offer and no bad words would be said about Plum. Wow. Right in my world, you're just a guest.)
But harassment appears to run in families, and KK may have thought her actions were within the bounds of generally accepted behavior in the workplace. Just two years ago, her brother, who also worked in the restaurant industry, owned a popular, upscale establishment in North Carolina called Accum Food & Beverage Co. in Carrboro, where young employees under the age of 25 went on strike for several months in protest of persistent sexual harassment. Indy Week It will be reported in 2022.
In the end, everyone loses because of KK's arrogance and racism: her store is closed and the staff who loved working with and for Trent Shank are left heartbroken, just like Shank himself.
Of course, the height of irony is that Kendrick Lamar's excellent “Euphoria” is about not saying the N-word. But here we are.
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