Press Release: Richmond Complaint against William Oliver’s Publick House in Lafayette

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DARREN O’CONNOR LAW, LLC
September 9, 2025

Boulder County resident Jamillah Richmond, who is African American with mixed ethnicity, has filed a discrimination lawsuit under Section 1981 against the owners of William Oliver’s Publick House in Lafayette.

Plantiff Jamillah Richmond

In April of this year, Ms. Richmond, her then twelve-year-old daughter, and several friends—some with their children—returned to William Oliver’s Publick

House in Lafayette for dinner. When the food arrived, Ms. Richmond observed that her food was “off” to a degree that made her fear it might cause food poisoning. Her daughter ordered macaroni and cheese and pork bites. Her daughter ate all of the macaroni and cheese but only a few bites of the pork because it too smelled and tasted “off.”

Ms. Richmond, who was initially charged the full cost of her meal, questioned the server about paying full price for food she felt was unfit to eat. The server cited conflicting policies. Another server, listed as Defendant John Doe in the lawsuit, then got involved.

John Doe falsely accused Ms. Richmond of not having paid for her meal three weeks earlier and threatened to call the police because of Ms. Richmond’s refusal to pay for her meal. Per the lawsuit: “At the time he made this threat, Ms. Richmond had not gotten up from the table or in any other way indicated she intended to leave without paying.”

“John Doe did not only harass and discriminate against Ms. Richmond, but engaged patrons of the Pub . . . and [those patrons] subsequently also harassed Ms. Richmond and the dinner party. . . . [O]ne of the patrons returned from the parking lot and circled closely Ms. Richmond’s dinner party, glaring and staring at Ms. Richmond and other members of the dinner party.”

Ms. Richmond requested to speak with a manager five times, and five times was ignored. Eventually, a white member of her party asked for a manager, and though there was no manager on duty, a bartender finally intervened at the white female’s request.

That night, Ms. Richmond’s daughter, as a result of eating the bad food from the restaurant, became very ill, including “projectile vomiting.”

Ms. Richmond posted about the incident on Facebook, and an owner, Ryan Wallace, spoke with her about what happened. The lawsuit includes many admissions by Mr. Wallace, such as:

“My staff gave me an account of the story. That is, quite honestly, just not accurate. I read what you posted on your Facebook. I looked at our videotapes. Your story sounds more accurate than what they’re telling me.”

“I got disgusted by my own internal investigation when they said they wanted to call the cops on you for not paying a bill. I said, you really think it’s appropriate? That’s the level you want to go to, is get cops involved because somebody doesn’t want to pay a bill. . . . Are you f*cking kidding me?”

“You probably look at my Facebook, I look white as shit. But I’m a Chicano and my family’s been dealing with this shit for f*cking ever.”

“Ms. Richmond understood Mr. Wallace’s statement that ‘my family’s been dealing with this shit for f*cking ever’ to clearly refer to discrimination based on race or ethnicity, the same as she had experienced at the Pub on April 4, 2025,” per the lawsuit.

Mr. Wallace also shared that if Ms. Richmond had not paid three weeks earlier, he would have been informed, but that had not occurred.

Ms. Richmond’s daughter experienced significant emotional distress, losing sleep and expressing fear that her mother might be killed by the police as a result of John Doe’s threats.

The lawsuit includes screenshots from several other patrons’ posts online about concerns of racial and ethnic biases experienced at the restaurant, such as the following:

Ms. Richmond’s lawsuit names four claims: Claim 1 and Claim 2: 42 U.S.C. § 1981, Right to Make and Enforce Contract (against William Oliver’s Publick House and John Doe); Claim 3: Outrageous Conduct/Intentional Infliction of Emotional Distress (against all parties); and Claim 4: Negligence (against all parties).

Ms. Richmond’s lawsuit seeks actual economic damages, compensatory damages, and punitive damages, and requests a jury trial. The lawsuit was filed by Darren O’Connor Law, LLC in Boulder’s 20th Judicial District Court.