A mentally handicapped man from South Carolina’s Grand Strand has sued the restaurant where he worked for 23 years. He says that for his last four years there, he worked under conditions that amounted to nothing less than modern-day slavery.
Christopher Smith is suing J&J Cafeteria in Conway, just north of Myrtle Beach, alleging that for four years, he was subjected to ghastly and racially discriminatory treatment at the hands of restaurant manager Bobby Edwards from 2010 to 2014. Smith is black, Edwards is white. Charleston-based law firm McLeod Law Group filed the federal suit on Smith’s behalf. Read the complaint here. It alleges that Edwards forced Smith to work 18 hours a day during the week and 11 hours on Sundays–all without breaks, and even when Smith was so sick that he had to be carried home.
Edwards claimed to keep a bank account for Smith that had $30,000 in it at one point. However, Smith has never had access to it. Edwards also forced Smith to live in a cockroach-infested apartment near the restaurant under conditions that were “subhuman” and “deplorable to human health.” Smith also says he wasn’t allowed to see his mother or family during this time.
Smith also says that Edwards repeatedly beat him with frying pans, spatulas, butcher knives, spatulas, belts, and his own fists. Smith also claims that Edwards dipped tongs into hot grease and pressed them against Smith’s neck, and also yelled racial slurs at him. The slavery continued even when several witnesses complained to J&J’s owner, Ernest Edwards–who also happens to be Bobby Edwards’ brother. Both brothers are also named in the suit, as well as their company, Half Moon Foods.
Smith first told his story to WMBF-TV in Myrtle Beach in February. He has been diagnosed with mild delayed cognitive development, a condition that results in below-average intellectual functioning. Smith said he began washing dishes at J&J’s when he was 12 years old. Over the years, he did all kinds of tasks at the downtown Conway restaurant. However, things took a turn for the worse when Bobby Edwards subjected him to conditions that sound like something I read about when learning about slavery in my history classes. He was afraid to speak out sooner because he was scared.
The nightmare only ended last year when Geneane Caines, the mother-in-law of a waitress at J&J’s, alerted the South Carolina Department of Social Services to what she described as the “total abuse” that Smith suffered at Edwards’ hands. Caines, who is now serving as Smith’s advocate, says that many customers heard rumors about what was happening. However, when they asked the waitresses about it, they were “so scared of Bobby” that they kept quiet.
After getting a tip about Smith’s ordeal, Conway police and DSS representatives rescued Smith and placed him in Adult Protective Services. According to WPDE-TV in Myrtle Beach, Smith briefly moved in with Caines and her family, but is now living and working on his own. He has been unable to collect unemployment because J&J grossly underreported the wages that Smith actually earned. J&J claimed that Smith earned a total of $2,800 during his four-year ordeal–not even a fraction of what he actually earned during that time.
Soon after Smith was rescued, Bobby Edwards was arrested and charged with second-degree assault, which is only a misdemeanor. He was released on $10,000 bond. That doesn’t sit well with Abdullah Mustafa, the head of the Conway NAACP. In February, he told WMBF that “anyone who is rational and has any sense of logic” would know that this is way beyond a misdemeanor. I have to agree. If convicted, Edwards could get only three years in prison–which barely qualifies as a phrase, considering the hell that he put Smith through. The fact that this was a special-needs victim should have made this a felony in my mind.
I also find it incomprehensible that Ernest Edwards isn’t facing any criminal charges. He told WMBF that he knew nothing about the alleged slavery because he spent most of his time at two other restaurants he owns on the Grand Strand. Don’t insult our intelligence, Ernest. There are a number of witnesses who are prepared to testify that you knew, or at the very least should have made it your business to know. If you’re wondering why this restaurant is still open, it’s under new ownership. Hopefully the new owners have the decency to reach out to Smith.
Smith said in February that he wants Bobby Edwards in prison, “and I want to be there when he go.” Hopefully someone will see that he deserves much more than three years–and that Ernest needs to join him.
