Employees at Upscale Durham Restaurant Quit En Masse After Owner Used a Racial Slur

It’s Monday, July 22.

Support the INDY Press Club.

Good morning, readers.

Plum Southern Kitchen & Bar has been closed since the beginning of the month. A social media post attributes the closure to a standard summer break. But, as the INDY reported Friday, former employees of the upscale Durham restaurant tell a different story.

According to eight former Plum employees, all of whom worked at the restaurant until a few weeks ago, Plum owner Lisa Callaghan, who is white, used the N-word multiple times during a shift in May. The former employees say the restaurant was closed at the time and that they were playing the song “Euphoria” by Kendrick Lamar while preparing for dinner service.⁠

⁠Upon hearing the song, employees say, Callaghan appeared upset. “I am so sick of hearing n—r this, n—r that, n—r, n—r, n—r,” she said, according to multiple employees present during the shift.⁠

⁠The employees—most of whom spoke on the condition of anonymity—say that later, in June, Callaghan fired a Black bartender who had criticized her usage of the slur.⁠

⁠When the INDY reached out to the bartender, the bartender confirmed that she was fired six weeks after the incident. Callaghan, she says, told her “You are part of this chapter that I need to close.”⁠

Former employees say Callaghan also fired Plum’s executive chef, Trent Shank, who had been with the restaurant since it opened in 2020, when he refused to back her up amid the fallout from the incident.

In the wake of the firings, the majority of Plum staff—including the chef de cuisine, the sous chef, the pastry chef, and more than a dozen servers, bartenders, hosts, line cooks, and dishwashers—have resigned.

Callaghan confirmed to the INDY that she said the slur but did not respond to inquiries about the firings or the mass exodus of staff.

“I take full responsibility for my words, my response, and my continued commitment to a safe and inclusive space for all who walk through our doors,” she wrote in an email. 

A GoFundMe for the bartender who was fired has raised about one-fifth of its goal.

—Lena

Love The INDY? Join the INDY Press Club.
Support the ambitions of local journalism (plus, you can enjoy a few perks).