A downtown Charleston restaurant owner says a federal civil rights lawsuit alleging she fired a chef because he wasnât Mexican is part of an ongoing campaign of harassment and intimidation against her.
Pink Cactusâ original head chef, Jeremy Paige, claims in the suit that restaurant owner Brooke Warden âtold two employees that she wanted a chef âwith a more ethnic feelâ so (the) restaurant would have a more âauthentic image.â â Paige alleges that immediately prior to terminating him on March 19, 2019, Warden promoted an inexperienced chef to the head chef position âbecause he had been born in Mexico.â
Paige was born in the U.S., according to the lawsuit.