Former Ri Ra employee files lawsuit alleging racism, sexual harassment
Former Ri Ra employee Ashanti Williams has filed a lawsuit against Ri Ra Irish Pub & Restaurant in Portland alleging race discrimination and sexual harassment.
Buzz Hospitality, the Delaware-based company that operates the pub, is also named in the suit, which was filed Monday in U.S. District Court in Maine.
Williams, who is Black, was hired by Ri Ra in October 2023, and fired in August 2025, according to the suit. He lives in Biddeford. The suit alleges he was “frequently treated differently and worse than his white coworkers.”
Spencer Brantley, managing partner of Buzz Hospitality, said in an email that they were aware of the lawsuit, but did not comment on pending legal matters or ongoing litigation, per company policy.
The suit alleges that Williams, a bartender, was reprimanded for arriving to work late, while white coworkers who were late were not.
He said he witnessed white coworkers take home liquor given to them by distributors as private gifts, but the first time he did so, he was accused of stealing and was terminated. The lawsuit says a distributor gave him a sample bottle to taste so he could consider using it in drinks for the bar’s upcoming celebration of National Negroni Week. He took it home rather than tasting it immediately, according to the lawsuit, because company policy forbids employees from drinking on the job.
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Williams also accuses an assistant general manager of making unwanted sexual advances, calling him “honey” and “handsome,” and telling him she planned to leave her boyfriend and ask him out for drinks. When he repeatedly rejected her advances, she began to snap at him and micromanage his work, the lawsuit says.
Williams was the only Black front-of-house employee at Ri Ra at the time, according to court papers, and he had never before been disciplined. He is asking for a jury trial, back pay, damages and attorneys’ fees. The suit also asks that Ri Ra stop discriminating and that it inform its current employees of the courtroom verdict.
Williams is represented by the Maine Employee Rights Group, which focuses on worker rights.
“State and federal laws are clear that no employee should be fired because of race or because they reject a manager’s unwanted sexual advances,” Williams’ attorney, Chad Hansen, wrote in an email. “The evidence will show that Ri Ra violated these rights when it terminated Mr. Williams. Our suit seeks to recover for the harm caused by Defendants’ conduct and to send a clear message that discrimination, harassment, and retaliation have no place in Maine workplaces.”
Ri Ra is in the Old Port, at 72 Commercial St. Buzz Hospitality also owns Wilson County Barbecue and Bar Publica in Portland and other restaurants around the country.
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Tagged: old port, racism, Restaurants, sexual harassment, U.S. District Court
Peggy Grodinsky has been the food editor at the Portland Press Herald since 2014. Previously, she was executive editor of Cook’s Country, a now-defunct national magazine that was published by America’s. More by Peggy Grodinsky
