Man banned from JJ’s Grill in Conway for allegedly using racial slurs toward employee

CONWAY, Ark. – A man has been fired from his job and permanently banned from an Arkansas restaurant after allegedly making racist remarks towards a former employee.

The former employee is Jamarchay Boyd who started working for JJ’s Grill in Conway in 2016 as a security guard. On Sunday morning, Boyd said he received a social media message calling him the N-word and telling him he’d be hung from an oak tree.

Afterward, Boyd posted the message along with the sender’s profile to his own social media page.

“I wanted to make sure people are aware of the experiences I experienced here,” Boyd said.

The man who sent the message was a guest at JJ’s Grill in Conway.

“I don’t know how you can wake up and be so full of hate,” said Boyd.

JJ’s Grill in Conway posted to their social media saying that guest will no longer be allowed at any of their eight locations.

The man was also terminated from his place of employment, Powers Building HVAC, Controls and Services.

Boyd said the racism from this guest wasn’t just from social media. He said it started earlier this year at the Conway restaurant when Boyd said he was groped by the guest while working as security.

“I did push, and I established a boundary, and I spoke in a stern way,” Boyd said.

Boyd said after the altercation, the man would consistently make racist remarks towards him when visiting the restaurant.

“It bothered me, like heavily,” Boyd said.

He said he would tell his managers but, “whenever I would complain nothing would be done about it.”

Boyd said this made him feel that the work environment at JJ’s Grill in Conway wasn’t safe.

“I don’t want to work in this type of environment where you don’t stand up for what’s right and what’s wrong,” he said.

Boyd said he’s glad that he was able to bring forward racial awareness, but wants to advise people to not let one incident dictate how you perceive an entire group of people.

JJ’s Grill in Conway released the following statement about the incident:

“We were recently made aware of troubling allegations involving racist comments made by a former guest at JJ’s.

We want to be clear: this individual has never been an employee of JJ’s Grill, and we take this matter extremely seriously. In response, we have permanently banned the person from all JJ’s locations.

It’s important to note that none of our staff members have faced discipline or termination for standing up against racism or in connection with this incident.

At JJ’s, our commitment to a safe, welcoming, and fun environment for everyone is unwavering. We have a zero-tolerance policy for any form of discrimination, including racial discrimination. We are dedicated to taking whatever steps are necessary to protect and support our guests and employees.”

JJ’s Grill

Powers Building HVAC, Controls and Services released the following statement:

“My name is Alan Hope, and I am CEO of Powers. We have experienced a situation unprecedented in our 40+ year history this weekend and I would like to personally address this matter. Based upon Jesse’s racist and threatening comments posted over the weekend, there was never any question about whether this would result in his termination. It has been rumored in social media comments that he is related to current leadership at Powers, but this is false.

After conferring with legal counsel to ensure proper procedures were followed related to employment law, we have terminated his employment.

We are deeply troubled that our company’s core values have been jeopardized by a former employee’s actions and heinous prejudice towards others. That is not who we are, what we believe nor how we treat others.”

Alan Hope, Powers Building HVAC, Controls and Services

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