Two Black women have filed a lawsuit in Los Angeles Superior Court accusing Verse LA and owner Manny Marroquin of civil‑rights violations after they say staff forced them out of their bar seats during a Dec. 12, 2025, visit to the Toluca Lake restaurant. Plaintiffs Kiana Welsh and Traonne Bailey allege they were singled out while a White patron who arrived at the same time was allowed to remain, and the complaint seeks unspecified compensatory and punitive damages. The woman posted a video of the encounter that, the suit says, drew widespread public attention online.
What the lawsuit alleges
The complaint names Verse LA, owner Manny Marroquin, and chef and managing agent Oscar Torres as defendants and accuses them of intentional infliction of emotional distress, civil‑rights violations, and negligence, including negligent hiring, retention, and supervision, as reported by MyNewsLA. Welsh and Bailey say they were "targeted and constructively removed from the restaurant solely based on their race and gender as Black women," according to the filing.
Owner, venue, and background
Verse promotes itself as a supper club that mixes "food, sound and libations," with its location listed as 4212 Lankershim Blvd in Toluca Lake on the Verse LA website, which also names Oscar Torres as executive chef. Manny Marroquin is a multi‑Grammy‑winning mixing engineer with credits on records by Rihanna, Bruno Mars, Alicia Keys, and Lizzo, and Verse highlights the owner’s sound‑design background as part of the dining experience.
Plaintiffs' account and public reaction
According to the lawsuit, the women sat at the bar "at the invitation of departing guests" and had already ordered when an employee told them to leave because the seats were reserved, while a White woman seated at roughly the same time was not asked to move. The complaint says an employee told the women to take their drinks and "stand against the wall" and referred to the bar seats as being "for people," language the plaintiffs describe as "vague, humiliating and dehumanizing." The suit also alleges that a bartender later paid for the women’s drinks and that the video they posted of the incident received more than 400,000 views and over 1,000 comments, details that are included in the filing and were reported by MyNewsLA.
Legal context and what is next
If the allegations are proven, the plaintiffs’ civil‑rights claims could implicate California’s Unruh Civil Rights Act, which requires businesses to provide "full and equal accommodations" and allows for statutory, emotional‑distress and punitive remedies, according to the California Civil Rights Department. The complaint also raises negligence and related claims that typically hinge on what management knew and how staff were trained and supervised. The case is in its early stages and is expected to move through discovery and routine scheduling in the Los Angeles Superior Court.
