According to a federal lawsuit, a black couple is suing a popular Memphis restaurant for $1 million after the white manager accused them of smelling like weed and forced them to leave the restaurant.

What happened: A black Mississippi couple visiting family in Tennessee denied there was a smell of weed, but the manager of Houston’s restaurant insisted. She called a police officer who escorted the couple outside. While they were outside, a second police officer told the couple that the manager “regularly treated black guests in this manner,” according to the complaint.

the couple, Dechandria bass And Dwan Brown According to the lawsuit, the company filed a $1 million lawsuit Thursday against Hillstone Restaurant Group, Inc., the company that operates Houston’s, its director and the manager who ordered them to leave of the restaurant had forced.

Carlos MooreThe attorney representing the couple said they were victims of racial profiling and never smelled of marijuana.

“Black people should be able to dine in peace without being harassed and ushered out for some nonsense,” Moore said.

According to the complaint, Bass and Brown were in Memphis visiting Brown’s mother and cousin. The mother and her cousin came to the table as the situation began to develop.

“My clients have been adamant about not smoking or smelling weed and saying they are victims of racial profiling,” Moore said, according to Action News 5 Memphis. “We’re trying to negotiate with Houston to keep this from going to federal court, but Houston corporate headquarters isn’t negotiating or responding to us.”

The defendants publicly shamed the couple and subjected them to the humiliation observed by other customers, the lawsuit says. Bass and Brown are seeking damages for the embarrassment, emotional distress and mental anguish they suffered as a result of the incident. They are each seeking $500,000 in damages.

“Defendants did not simultaneously provide food and services to plaintiffs…