Pinay nurse lodges complaint vs salesman who called her ‘mail-order bride’
JOSEPH G. LARIOSA, GMANews.TV
CHICAGO, Illinois – The Filipina nurse and retired US Air Force Reserve staff sergeant who was allegedly called a “mail-order bride" by a salesman in a Chicago retail shop is determined to get justice in a settlement conference next month.
Frannie L. Richards said she was shopping at the Swedish retail giant H&M (Hennes & Mauritz) last October when a male employee in his “20’s to early 30’s" raised his right hand and said, “Mail-order bride in the house" and ran toward a fellow employee before they started laughing.
Since there was no other shopper “within three or four racks of me," Ms. Richards, said she was “shocked and disgusted" these white employees implied “I was a whore and could not understand why he would say anything so derogatory."
“I felt like crying but refused to give him the satisfaction. I had a red bag and was wearing black pants and a long denim coat. I am an Asian American woman," she said.
Because she wanted to get the names of the two employees, Ms. Richards approached them and asked if she could try clothes on. The man rudely pointed to the fitting rooms and said, “Can’t you read that sign, it says ‘fitting room.’"
As she walked away, the man started muttering under his breath and making a mocking noise like “ching, ching, chong." Richards said she felt degraded and upset.
Because of her frustration, she asked to talk to a department manager named Tom who could not even provide her the name of the offending employee.
Because she felt helpless, she left. But her friends convinced her to go back and get the name of the “harasser." When she came back, she was accompanied by a friend as a witness.
She looked for another manager. This time, Greg, could only tell her that his harassing subordinate would first “get a verbal warning, and if it happens again, then, it would be written down." She said she was told the employee’s name is “Joseph H." whose position is called “visual merchandiser."
April Lewton, Richards’ lawyer, said she is “pleased to hear of the Chicago Commission on Human Relations’ findings of substantial evidence of a violation in the case of Frannie Richards v. H & M, and we look forward to justice being served at the settlement conference in mid-September."
Ms. Lewton, an Asian-American Institute community organizer, said, “(the) finding of substantial evidence means that there is enough evidence for the case to proceed to an administrative hearing."
She added, “The settlement conference is an opportunity for the two parties to reach an agreement prior to the administrative hearing."
Because she wanted Joseph H fired, Ms. Richards filed a discrimination complaint against him for violating “Chapter 2-160 of the Chicago Municipal Code."
The said law guards against discrimination, including anti-Asian and sex-based discrimination, when discriminatory incident takes place in Chicago and involves employment, housing, public accommodations, credit or bonding.
She was initially assisted by lawyer Myron Dean Quon, Asian American Institute legal director. Mr. Quon commented then, “Anti-Asian, xenophobic and misogynist verbal attacks still happen on a daily basis. Asian American women, like Ms. Richards, should never have to deal with this type of harassment, in Chicago no less."
“I knew that I had to enforce my civil rights for myself and other Asian American women. Because H & M refused to discipline this employee, I immediately thought of my own female relatives and friends. The workplace usage of disparaging anti-Asian slurs should require the termination of that H & M employee," Ms. Richards insisted.
She earlier said that if the case is not settled before Chicago Commission on Human Relations, she is ready to elevate the matter up to the Cook County Circuit Court, where she will seek damages for emotional distress, injunctive relief, attorney’s fees, costs.
When news of the incident broke out, Filipino and other human rights activists picketed the front of the H & M, which even hired a Filipino - American lawyer to help the retail giant's legal defense. - GMANews.TV
CHICAGO, Illinois – The Filipina nurse and retired US Air Force Reserve staff sergeant who was allegedly called a “mail-order bride" by a salesman in a Chicago retail shop is determined to get justice in a settlement conference next month.
Frannie L. Richards said she was shopping at the Swedish retail giant H&M (Hennes & Mauritz) last October when a male employee in his “20’s to early 30’s" raised his right hand and said, “Mail-order bride in the house" and ran toward a fellow employee before they started laughing.
Since there was no other shopper “within three or four racks of me," Ms. Richards, said she was “shocked and disgusted" these white employees implied “I was a whore and could not understand why he would say anything so derogatory."
“I felt like crying but refused to give him the satisfaction. I had a red bag and was wearing black pants and a long denim coat. I am an Asian American woman," she said.
Because she wanted to get the names of the two employees, Ms. Richards approached them and asked if she could try clothes on. The man rudely pointed to the fitting rooms and said, “Can’t you read that sign, it says ‘fitting room.’"
As she walked away, the man started muttering under his breath and making a mocking noise like “ching, ching, chong." Richards said she felt degraded and upset.
Because of her frustration, she asked to talk to a department manager named Tom who could not even provide her the name of the offending employee.
Because she felt helpless, she left. But her friends convinced her to go back and get the name of the “harasser." When she came back, she was accompanied by a friend as a witness.
She looked for another manager. This time, Greg, could only tell her that his harassing subordinate would first “get a verbal warning, and if it happens again, then, it would be written down." She said she was told the employee’s name is “Joseph H." whose position is called “visual merchandiser."
April Lewton, Richards’ lawyer, said she is “pleased to hear of the Chicago Commission on Human Relations’ findings of substantial evidence of a violation in the case of Frannie Richards v. H & M, and we look forward to justice being served at the settlement conference in mid-September."
Ms. Lewton, an Asian-American Institute community organizer, said, “(the) finding of substantial evidence means that there is enough evidence for the case to proceed to an administrative hearing."
She added, “The settlement conference is an opportunity for the two parties to reach an agreement prior to the administrative hearing."
Because she wanted Joseph H fired, Ms. Richards filed a discrimination complaint against him for violating “Chapter 2-160 of the Chicago Municipal Code."
The said law guards against discrimination, including anti-Asian and sex-based discrimination, when discriminatory incident takes place in Chicago and involves employment, housing, public accommodations, credit or bonding.
She was initially assisted by lawyer Myron Dean Quon, Asian American Institute legal director. Mr. Quon commented then, “Anti-Asian, xenophobic and misogynist verbal attacks still happen on a daily basis. Asian American women, like Ms. Richards, should never have to deal with this type of harassment, in Chicago no less."
“I knew that I had to enforce my civil rights for myself and other Asian American women. Because H & M refused to discipline this employee, I immediately thought of my own female relatives and friends. The workplace usage of disparaging anti-Asian slurs should require the termination of that H & M employee," Ms. Richards insisted.
She earlier said that if the case is not settled before Chicago Commission on Human Relations, she is ready to elevate the matter up to the Cook County Circuit Court, where she will seek damages for emotional distress, injunctive relief, attorney’s fees, costs.
When news of the incident broke out, Filipino and other human rights activists picketed the front of the H & M, which even hired a Filipino - American lawyer to help the retail giant's legal defense. - GMANews.TV
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