Asians Are Victims Of Racial Stereotypes
According to ABC News, online edition (“New Jersey Woman Sues CVS for $1M for Racist Receipt,” Alexa Valiente, April 18, 2013), Hyun Lee was at a Egg Harbor, New Jersey, CVS Pharmacy, Inc., picking up photos, when she noticed the words “Ching Chong Lee” on her receipt. She immediately called the store to complain, but she never received an apology. Instead, the store told her the employee would receive training, a message, the store’s customer relations department delivered by email. Lee’s next step was to file a $1 million federal lawsuit charging the CVS Caremark Corporation with discrimination.
While some may regard the charges of “injury, mental anguish, severe emotional distress, harm, and damages” that Lee claims to suffer as a result of the ethnic slur, the fact remains that it will cost CVS to fight the charges. The costs, of course, relate to both the defense, and the bad publicity that ensues when someone makes discrimination charges against a company in the public eye. Could CVS have avoided the problem and the costs? Perhaps.
Training employees (and periodically reinforcing that training) to abide by a policy that treats customers with respect and dignity might help. Establishing a zero-tolerance policy for those who do not embrace the values-statement might help. Apologies might help as well.
Consider how far an apology goes as an assurance that discrimination and customer service are antithetical terms. When a New York City based Papa John’s learned that an employee had written a racial slur (“lady chinky eyes”) on a receipt for Minhee Cho, the company fired the employee and tweeted an immediate apology to the woman who complained. The woman did not file a lawsuit.
A Canadian cartoonist metaphorically refers to an apology as “the super glue of life. It can repair just about anything,” she says. Whether the situation involves interpersonal relations or customer relations, it’s clear that a few words, sincerely expressed, represent a solid first step toward improvement — a step that may prevent subsequent, more drastic actions.