The oldest private social club in Detroit, its owner and a manager must pay $6.25 million to three former employees after a federal jury found they faced retaliation after reporting racial discrimination against Black patrons and staff.
After a nine-day civil trial in U.S. District Court in Detroit in June, the jury found in favor of plaintiffs Victoria Maria Ferrer, a former front desk associate, who is Latina; Miya Shani Hooks, a former bartender, who is Black; and Charles Lisée, another former bartender, who is white.
All three former Detroit Club employees alleged that they were punished after raising concerns about racial discrimination, including that the club selectively enforced its dress code against African American guests while allowing white patrons who were similarly or more casually dressed to enter and enjoy the club’s amenities, which included a hotel, restaurant, three bars, a cigar lounge, and a spa.
In their lawsuit filed in 2022 (and obtained by Atlanta Black Star), the plaintiffs said the 144-year-old Detroit Club’s pattern of racial insensitivity stemmed from its owner and president, Lynn Uralli, who frequently used racial slurs, disparately treated minorities, called some Black patrons “street rats,” and swept internal complaints of racism aside.
When they complained about it, the lawsuit said, the club employees were fired or compelled to resign, and then allegedly faced further threats regarding their safety and careers from Uralli.
Dress Code
The Detroit Club has a dress code for its patrons, posted near the club’s front entrance. Before 6 p.m., the dress code is “smart casual,” which may include denim and collared shirts, according to court documents.
After 6 p.m., the dress code is “business casual or better,” which includes collared shirts, slacks or skirts with a blouse or sweater. Sneakers, ripped jeans, hoodies, work boots, and baseball caps are not allowed, nor is team sport apparel, unless it is a “game day” in the city.
Several former employees testified that the dress code was a “hopeful’ guideline and loosely enforced, except for when it came to a few white managers, including Uralli and assistant manager Suzette Daye. They often denied Black guests entry based on their dress, including when they were dressed similarly to Caucasian guests who were allowed in, the former employees said.
Hooks, who began working at the club as a part-time server in the club’s restaurant, Bohemia, on Oct. 1, 2021, said she was hired when Uralli was out of town. A manager later told her that Uralli asked if she was “black black or white black,” at the time, the lawsuit said.
Hooks and her supervisor, Colleen Kelley, testified that they witnessed Uralli enforcing the dress code disparately toward African Americans, and said that several Black patrons complained directly to them about how rude Uralli was towards them.
Double Standards
That included an incident when Hooks witnessed a group of Black men enter, one of whom was wearing a blazer over a designer sweatshirt, the lawsuit says. Uralli sent a manager to tell them they couldn’t enter due to the dress code. Less than half an hour later, Hooks said she witnessed a white individual enter wearing nylon Nike tear-away pants, who was welcomed in and served.
The complaint says Hooks complained about what she perceived as racially discriminatory treatment of guests at least three times, but that management kept calling her “delusional.”
She was fired on Nov. 24, 2021, allegedly for threatening “to take Mrs. Uralli out back,” which Hooks denied.
Kelley later testified that Uralli was angry at Hooks because another employee had told her that Hooks had called her a racist.
The lawsuit says that after her termination, Hooks found a job as a server at another Detroit restaurant, where Uralli paid a visit.
“How did you get a job here?” Uralli allegedly asked, to which Hooks says she responded, “I guess I did something right.”
“Not for long,” Uralli allegedly responded, which the complaint contends was a threat to get Hooks fired.
Black Guests Are ‘Humiliated’
Plaintiff Charles Lisée had just started working part-time at the club’s Library Bar that month, and testified that he, too, began to notice disparate treatment of African American guests, who were “shaken down” by the club regarding its dress code and harassed in other ways.
In February 2022, Lisée said a Black guest complained to him that she and her sister were “humiliated” by the club’s front office manager, Daye, who was “like a guard” at the front door.
They also submitted a complaint to the club’s membership director. The lawsuit says that after discussing how Black guests were treated, the club’s general manager, Chance Armstrong, “agreed with Lisée that there was a problem but stated that he was ‘unsure how he would address it.’”
On April 9, 2022, before arriving at work, Lisée emailed Armstrong an email concerning “the ongoing racism that non-Caucasian guests are brutalized with when entering the club.” It also discussed the repercussions faced by another “racist” local employer. The email was forwarded to Uralli.
Armstrong allegedly acknowledged there was a problem, but this time promised that they were “looking at different options” as to how to address the Club’s racial issues.
I Will Destroy You
Lisée resigned from the club on April 25, 2022, through a letter outlining and complaining about the racial discrimination he witnessed, which he believed had not been addressed. He posted the letter on his Facebook page, which led to a flurry of comments on social media and phone calls to the club.
Attempting to get him to remove the post, Uralli sent him a text message on April 26 threatening to “destroy” Lisée. She also told him that he “would pay for the attempt of defaming my business” and that “the first thing to go” would be his real estate license. (Lisée also worked as a real estate agent).
In a deposition in 2023, Uralli said that Lisée had close to 3,000 friends on Facebook and “he had put the horrible resignation letter with all of the vicious accusations about the club and myself on Facebook and my phone was ringing off the hook and … he wouldn’t take it down and I had to do something aggressive in order to make him take down the post.”
She said by telling him she would “destroy” him, “I didn’t mean anything by any of it. I was … just trying to scare him so he would stop.”
A Guest’s Durag Causes Consternation
Maria Ferrer (who later married and took the last name “Baugh,”) was hired by the Detroit Club as a front desk agent in March 2022.
She was supervised by Daye, who made several comments about Black patrons not being dressed properly, despite Ferrer noting that they were following the club’s dress code, the lawsuit said.
In April 2022, Ferrer allowed a Black couple to check into their hotel room while out of dress code, in line with the club’s customary practices, and informed them about the dress code.
During the interaction Daye approached the front desk, welcomed the couple, instructed them about thermostats in the hotel rooms, and offered them champagne. She then walked away.
Uralli, who was watching the interaction via a security camera, then called Daye and said it looked like the woman was harassing Ferrer. When she returned to the front desk, Daye later testified, the woman started “telling [her] off” and accusing her of being racist.
According to Ferrer, the man was wearing a durag. After the guests left to check into their room, Daye approached her and questioned why she had allowed them to check in, saying they violated the hotel’s dress code. Ferrer pointed out that the club’s policy allows guests to check in dressed casually.
Ferrer later testified that the couple subsequently returned to the front desk and the woman was “a little upset” about the dress code, but “not rude.” She said Daye intervened and stepped in front of the lady “in her face” and asked if “we have a problem here,” then told the woman that if she didn’t like the dress code, she could leave.
The couple decided to leave and requested a refund.
Why Do You Care?
Ferrer said she felt the couple was being harassed because of their race. The next day, Ferrer told Daye that she found the treatment of the couple amounted to racial harassment. Daye told Ferrer to talk to Uralli.
When she did, Uralli allegedly asked Ferrer, who is Latina, “Do you think you’re Black?” and said she was confused why she cared if she wasn’t African American.
Uralli later testified that Ferrer saw racism everywhere and described her accusations as “wreaking havoc,” which “frustrated” her.
Uralli wrote Ferrer up for the incident, concluding she should have better informed the couple of the dress code so that Daye didn’t have to intervene.
Former Police Chief Turned Away
On April 21, 2022, Darryl Brown, a former Detroit Police Commissioner and retired fireman who was then a candidate for the Michigan state senate, was meeting a colleague, Regina Randall, at the club, where he was a former member, to strategize about his campaign. Both are Black.
Brown went upstairs to the restaurant. When Randall arrived, Daye told her to wait in the lobby before repeatedly ordering her to leave, insisting they did not know “Mr. Brown.”
Randall reached Brown on the phone, who tried to calm her down. Both later said they felt they had been mistreated due to their race. Ferrer and Chance later testified that white guests are allowed to sit in the Library Bar and wait for their guests. After the incident, Brown stopped going to the club, he said in a deposition.
‘Street Rats’ Comment Earns A Bad Google Review
On April 23, 2022, a Detroit resident named Kody Hook, who is biracial, and his Black girlfriend entered the club to use the restroom. It was a Detroit Tigers game day, and both were dressed the same as white guests, the lawsuit said.
Kody said he was approached by Uralli, who asked him, “What the hell he was doing?” and then told Ferrer, “Never let street rats” in the club. Uralli denied saying this and later testified that, after reviewing surveillance video of the incident, she had advised staff not to let people come in “off the street” to use the restroom.
Kody told Uralli that she “has a bad review coming,” and posted about the interaction on Google reviews, calling out “the racist owner” of the club.
Ferrer later testified that she had frequently seen white people who were not members being allowed to enter the club and use the restrooms without being questioned.
Later that day, Daye told Uralli that Ferrer believed the incident constituted racism. Uralli texted Daye, stating, “I hate her,” to which Daye responded, “It’s the racist thing. It’s just stupid.”
Uralli instructed Armstrong, the GM, to fire Ferrer, which he did.
The following day, assistant general manager Jennifer Thomason emailed the club’s leadership outlining that she had learned that Ferrer was terminated due to her complaints of racism and wrote that although she didn’t agree with those complaints, “it is very clear we are at a point that some sort of minority sensitivity training may need to be set in place.”
Lawsuit and Denial
The lawsuit accused the Detroit Club, Uralli, and Daye of racial discrimination, fostering a hostile workplace environment, and retaliation against them for complaining about it in violation of federal and state civil rights laws.
“Regardless of each Plaintiff’s race or heritage, each Plaintiff, including Lisée, was targeted for associating with and supporting the equal treatment of African Americans,” the lawsuit said. “Defendants discriminated against and terminated and/or constructively discharged each Plaintiff for associating with and supporting the equal treatment of African Americans.”
It further alleged that “Uralli has threatened to interfere with each Plaintiff’s professional careers due to their race and/or their association with African Americans.”
The plaintiffs claimed they sustained injuries and damages including loss of pay and benefits, loss of career opportunities, humiliation and embarrassment, mental anguish and emotional distress, loss of professional reputation and “loss of the ordinary pleasures of everyday life,” and sought compensatory and punitive damages.
In their answer to the complaint and subsequent filings, the defendants denied all of the allegations, asserting that “All employment actions of which Plaintiffs complain were based upon legitimate business reasons.”
The defendants filed a motion for summary judgment to dismiss the case. In August 2025, Judge Linda V. Parker dismissed some of the racial discrimination claims but allowed most hostile workplace and retaliation claims to move forward, writing that she found sufficient evidence of pretextual reasons by the Detroit Club for firing the three plaintiffs.
Judge and Jury Weigh In
After the trial ended on June 25, the verdict forms show jurors found the Detroit Club and Uralli liable for subjecting Hooks to a hostile work environment based on race, discriminating against her because of race, and retaliating against her after she engaged in protected activity under federal and state civil rights laws.
The jurors awarded Hooks $7,490 in lost wages, $200,000 for emotional distress, and $350,000 in punitive damages against the Detroit Club and $750,000 for emotional distress and $1 million in punitive damages against Uralli.
They also gave also Hooks $20 in back pay, matching the amount allegedly deducted from her final paycheck for a bottle of champagne that had been given to her as a gift.
Regarding Ferrer, jurors found the Detroit Club, Uralli, and Daye liable for retaliation.
The jury awarded Ferrer $3,000 in lost wages, $250,000 for emotional distress, and $500,000 in punitive damages against the Detroit Club. Jurors also awarded her $500,000 for emotional distress and $1 million in punitive damages against Uralli, along with $2,500 for emotional distress and $5,000 in punitive damages against Daye.
Jurors also sided with Lisée on his retaliation claim. He was awarded $100,000 for emotional distress and $335,000 in punitive damages against the Detroit Club. Jurors also awarded him $500,000 for emotional distress and $750,000 in punitive damages against Uralli.
Justice Comes with a Price
In addition to the $6.25 million in total damages awarded by the jury, attorneys for the plaintiffs filed a notice for entry of judgment on July 2 seeking an additional $1.3 million in prejudgment interest.
The defendants disputed the interest calculation in a July 8 court filing and asked the judge to reduce the final judgment amount.
“The plaintiffs legitimately fear for their safety and have spent four years weighing whether it was even worth addressing the racism they witnessed,” the plaintiffs’ attorney Jack W. Schulz told Detroit Metro Times.
“Ultimately, the jury issued a verdict validating plaintiffs’ courage and affirming that it is worth confronting bigotry. The verdict also is clearly responsive to the malice and unapologetic nature of the defendants, and it should be a warning to any business which feels that it would be easier to terminate concerned employees as opposed to addressing those legitimate concerns.”
