By Benjamin King
In the South, race relations is traditionally a black-and-white issue. But last month in Raleigh, N.C., Asian Pacific Islander Americans became part of the equation when four African American women filed a lawsuit against Jimmy Van Nguyen and Tommy Tran of Tiffany’s Billiards Sportsbar and International Restaurant on discrimination charges.
Nguyen and Tran did not respond to AsianWeek’s requests for interviews.
The plaintiffs in the case — Angela Merritt, Angela King, Teresa Manns and Stephanie Cortes — gave this account of the incident:
On Sept. 14, Merritt, King, Manns and Cortes were having a couple of drinks to unwind at Tiffany’s after an emotionally taxing week following the terrorist attacks.
When the women moved from the bar to a table to order some food, Jimmy Van Nguyen, the owner of Tiffany’s allegedly told them: “I’m going to charge you 15 percent up front because your people don’t tip.”
The women sought to clarify what he meant by the phrase “your people.”
Nguyen told them African Americans don’t tip, so he was applying a 15 percent surcharge to their tab. He pointed to a sign posted on the wall, which stated non-tippers automatically got 15 percent added to their bills. Then, he walked away to help other customers.
The plaintiffs felt as though they had been discriminated against solely due to race and demanded a refund. However, neither Nguyen nor Tran, the manager of the bar, responded to their complaint.
Merritt said she was “really shocked at how cocky Nguyen was.”
“I told him that he couldn’t just make those kind of blatantly racist comments and he simply stated ‘Yes, I can,’ ” Merritt said.
Merritt phoned 911. When an officer arrived on the scene, Nguyen continued to be difficult by refusing to issue a refund of the bill or provide identification. Only upon the police officer’s order did he finally give Merritt the $9.50.
The plaintiffs, who were already in a “bad emotional state,” had apparently been suffering from depression and anxiety in public places and are seeking compensatory and punitive damages.
Merritt, who has some family members in New York City affected by the WTC disaster, said that stress caused by the national tragedy and compounded with this incident, compelled her to seek psychological counseling.
The class-action suit was prepared by attorney Judy Tseng, who conceded that while her clients “are not expecting much money under the law, Merritt does have a claim for intentional infliction of emotional distress.”
Merritt said this episode shocked her because Raleigh is generally a tolerant city. Racial discrimination is not a major problem since “Raleigh is a very political city,” she said.
Incidents between African Americans and Asian Americans are nothing new, however. In 1992, the acquittal of four Los Angeles Police Department officers charged with the beating of Rodney King, sparked riots in Los Angeles, and in the aftermath, racial tensions worsened, especially between African Americans and Korean Americans.
More recently in 1999, Hiromi Takarada, the owner of Thai Toni in Miami’s South Beach, was slapped with a federal lawsuit for adding a 15 percent gratuity to the bill of patron Charles Thomas, a black executive. Like Nguyen, Takarada said he added the tip because “black people don’t tip well.”
“When [Asian immigrants] exhibit such blatantly racist actions, it’s disgusting and it gives all Asian Americans a bad image,” Tseng said.
Tseng, an attorney with Kurtz and Blum, said the Raleigh incident reminded her of a controversy that occurred while she was a student at UC Berkeley. A Korean supermarket owner was accused of assaulting an African American student. That touched student protests between the APIA and African American communities on campus.
In retrospect, she wishes she “hadn’t been so quick to side with the Korean storeowner without investigating the facts more thoroughly,” she said.
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