After being asked to leave Stab's Tuesday for a confusing dress code violation at Stab's Prime Steak and Seafood and posting about it on Facebook, Y'Mine McClanahan's post has taken a new turn.
Late Wednesday evening, she posted a statement on her personal Facebook page from the NAACP Baton Rouge Branch addressing her experience at Stab's Prime Steak and Seafood where she was asked to leave because of her attire which, many argue, was less "revealing" than the restaurant's wait staff's attire. McClanahan is the vice president of the Baton Rouge Branch of NAACP.
The NAACP Baton Rouge Branch has requested a meeting with the management team at Stab's.Â
The NAACP Baton Rouge branch has requested a meeting with the management team at Stab's Prime Steak and Seafood after an incident with their vice president, Y'Mine McClanahan.
"We believe that this situation warrants further discussion to ensure such incidents do not occur in the future and to restore trust and respect between our organizations and your establishment," the statement reads. "We are requesting a meeting with your management team to discuss this matter in detail and to explore ways to move forward positively."
The statement comes from Tia Mills, NAACP Baton Rouge Branch president, and Michael W. McClanahan, Louisiana NAACP state conference president, who also happens to be Y'Mine McClanahan's father.Â
When Y'Mine McClanahan walked into Stab's Tuesday for lunch with a friend, she says she had one thing on her mind: charbroiled shrimp. She wasn't thinking about her outfit — which was a two-piece floral set with a tube top and maxi skirt that she says she has worn several times at Stab's. She was only looking forward to the appetizer.
Y'Mine McClanahan is pictured at Stab's in an earlier photo as she was wearing the same two-piece outfit she was wearing when co-owner Dori Murvin asked her to leave the restaurant on July 23, 2024, for violating the dress code.Â
While being lead to her table, Stab's co-owner Dori Murvin stopped her and told her she couldn't wear her outfit in the restaurant because it was "just too revealing at the top." Murvin explained that the restaurant has a dress code policy and suggested that Y'Mine McClanahan put on a jacket.
Y'Mine McClanahan didn't have a jacket.Â
Murvin then told the customer that she had to leave.Â
"I just stood there kind of flabbergasted. This has never happened to me," Y'Mine McClanahan said. "I felt like somebody had actually taken off my clothes. I literally felt like I was standing there naked."Â
In response to the situation, she shared her experience on Facebook in a post that has now gone locally viral with more than 2,400 shares and more than 2,400 comments. She and many others noted that restaurant servers at Stab's were wearing crop tops and short shorts with fishnet tights.
Dori Murvin, co-owner of Stab's in Baton Rouge, who is on video asking a patron to leave the restaurant because of a dress code violation.Â
In response to The ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½'s request for comment, Stab's issued the following late Wednesday evening:Â
"We have a dress code policy that we ask our customers to observe. A few times a month we speak with our guests about their attire including asking them to remove baseball hats in our restaurant. Contrary to reports our attire policy is not new, it has been in affect (sic) for over three years now. We spoke with a guest yesterday about her attire and she pointed out that we have waitstaff dressed in a manner that might not meet the standard of our attire policy. For the last several weeks we have actually been working on a different uniform so that we are not asking a different standard for our customers than we are requiring of our staff."Â
In a follow up to Stab's statement, The ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ asked the restaurant's co-owner Kevin Kimball for further clarification regarding if the dress code is posted at the restaurant.
By text, Kimball said, "It is not a new dress code and it is on the website."Â
According to the website, the restaurant prohibits gym wear, sweatpants, tank tops, clothing with offensive graphics or language, exposed undergarments, cut-off shorts, torn jeans and flip-flops.Â
Since the Facebook post gained traction, a prominent Baton Rouge Instagram page with almost 70,000 followers, ghettowaze.2.0, has posted user-submitted photos of other Stab's patrons in similar tops.Â
View this post on Instagram
The saga continues on Facebook as people's opinions are divided.Â
On The ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½'s Facebook page, user Melissa D. Lane commented, "Their restaurant, their rules. Don't like it, don't go."
User Michelle Dinecola, on the other hand, commented, "I’m usually a rule follower and believe in the right to establish a dress code and enforce it…HOWEVER, that same expectation should apply to the staff. Having a waitress with trashy cutoffs, fishnets and her midriff showing while denying a PAYING customer because of her dress is how you lose business."Â
Similarly, user Kay Lindsey commented, "I've met so many good people in the Baton Rouge area, but this experience reinforces the idea that BR is a cliquish city full of new money wannabes. Buy a business, a large home, the right vehicle and you become royalty. Be rich, be white, be straight, be attractive and you're in!
I've made so many good friends here, and I'm glad that this city is full of these good people! I'm grateful that I move in different circles who value kindness, integrity, and the right to be oneself, and that these people are becoming the new face of BR."Â
Y'Mine McClanahan is also a member of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc. and a nurse practitioner who is working on a doctorate degree. She says she felt humiliated with the encounter.Â
Y'Mine McClanahan was asked to leave Stab's in Baton Rouge for allegedly violating the company dress code.Â
"I hate to make it a race issue, but sometimes as a Black woman, you're almost made to feel like you have to prove that you deserve to be in spaces," she said. "And I should not have to go anywhere and feel as though I have to prove it. It should be automatic because I'm a human being."Â
Since the post has gone viral, Y'Mine McClanahan says people from Florida, Texas, Chicago and other places have reached out to support her. She added that seeing people from all walks of life come together to support her has restored her hope in humanity.
She hopes the situation can bring forth public education and some accountability which could lead to a better way to handle the situation so that others won't have to experience what she has.
"It's truly the character of a person that matters so much more than how much weight I have on my body, the color of my skin or even the style of my hair,"Â she said.Â
Features editor Jan Risher contributed to this report.Â
