Paula Deen Restaurant Uncle Bubba's Seafood & Oyster House Closes After High-Profile Lawsuit

[Cirque du So-What]

Uncle Bubba's Seafood & Oyster House announced the closure Thursday on its Facebook page. (CHRIS GENT/FLICKR)

SAVANNAH, Ga. (AP) — A wildly popular Georgia restaurant at the center of a lawsuit that left the reputation of famed Southern celebrity cook Paula Deen in shambles has reportedly closed.

Uncle Bubba's Seafood & Oyster House announced the closure Thursday on its Facebook page, The Savannah Morning News (http://bit.ly/1owsS1s) and WSAV television (http://bit.ly/1gseldc) reported.

"Thank you for 10 great years. Uncle Bubba's is now closed," the Facebook message said.

Deen's brother, restaurant operator Bubba Hiers, decided to shut the eatery's doors "in order to explore development options for the waterfront property on which the restaurant is located," the reports said, quoting a statement from the Key Group public relations and marketing company. "At this point, no specific plans have been announced," the statement said.

more...

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/04/04/paula-deen-restaurant-closes-uncle-bubbas-seafood--oyster-house_n_5088759.html

I know it doesn't make up for years of abuse, but I consider this partial vindication for Lisa Jackson and all the African American employees who had to put up with this racist asshole over the years.

[Cirque du So-What]

1. Link to Facebook page

https://www.facebook.com/UncleBubbas?ref=br_tf

In typically assholish fashion, employees weren't informed of the closure until they showed up for work to be greeted by police escort and the sight of appliances being wheeled out the door.

[mercuryblues]

2. sounds like

her brother finally ran it into the ground once the manager left after years of abuse and indifference to her complaints.

The article claims it was deen's use of a racial slur, 30 years ago. Not the case. It had to do with racial and sexual harassment permeating through her business happening today.

In Hiers’ deposition in 2013 he testified that he frequently viewed pornography on company-owned sites at work and had a history of cocaine use and alcohol abuse. He admitted taking money from the restaurant in 2010 — allegedly as much as $25,000 to $30,000 a month, a practice Deen eventually discovered. He said his sister was in control of the business but it was never a big moneymaker

What I want to know, if you can steal $30,000 a month from a restaurant it is a money maker.

Another interesting event, the police blockade. Could it be tax evasion? The employees were given zero notice, trucks pulled up and removed equipment. The last time I heard about those things happening was when the IRS seized a local restaurant in the middle of lunch hour.