# Discrimination at CVS against Asians? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [April 18, 2013, 11:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discrimination-at-cvs-against-asians/656082 "2013-04-18T23:31:41Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2013, 6:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discrimination-at-cvs-against-asians/656082/21 "2013-04-19T18:25:54Z")
At a minimum fire the employee. If the store was irresponsible in instructing it’s employees on the use of names on receipts, then maybe they should pay a price. One million smackers? No way. ---
**Author:** ![Anaamika](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Anaamika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anaamika)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2013, 6:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discrimination-at-cvs-against-asians/656082/22 "2013-04-19T18:32:16Z")
> [@Ludovic](#): > > True story: I work with someone whose real first name is Ching-Chang. He goes by another, Western, name, but I can never remember what it is and my office’s Outlook only tells you his real name! He should put it in his sig. My outlook does the same and I hate when Westerners butcher my first name in an attempt to be funny, so I keep my nick in my sig all the time. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2013, 6:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discrimination-at-cvs-against-asians/656082/23 "2013-04-19T18:37:41Z")
> [@Ludovic](#): > > True story: I work with someone whose real first name is Ching-Chang. He goes by another, Western, name, but I can never remember what it is and my office’s Outlook only tells you his real name! I can one-up that. I used to work with a guy whose name was Yaw Hu. And another whose name was Cholera. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2013, 10:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discrimination-at-cvs-against-asians/656082/24 "2013-04-19T22:06:14Z")
> [@tim314](#): > > I don’t know if she’ll actually get a million dollars out of it. But the employee ought to be fired. Referring to your paying customers with racial slurs isn’t a sign that you need “sensitivity training”, it’s a sign that you’re an idiot who is not competent to work in any position where you might potentially have to interact with customers. The damages sought in a complaint are just an upper limit; if you don’t ask for X amount, the jury can’t award it. Demanding ONE MEELEON DOLLARS is pretty meaningless, really; it’s only really important for jurisdictional purposes. ---
**Author:** ![UltraVires](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ecccb3/32.png) [@UltraVires](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UltraVires)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2013, 3:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discrimination-at-cvs-against-asians/656082/25 "2013-04-20T15:40:08Z")
These tags are just used as descriptors, correct? They are used so that an employee won’t confuse Customer #1’s product with Customer #2’s product. And, again, I agree it was rude and should not happen, but my concern is about being legally actionable. She wasn’t denied service or discriminated against in her service in any way. IIED or NIED requires the conduct to be (generally) so extreme and outrageous as to be outside the bounds of human decency and then actually inflict such emotional distress. Maybe more enlightened people can correct me, but I don’t see extreme or outrageous here. Rude, yes. Stupid, yes. Extreme and outrageous? No. What if the note referred to the only African American customer waiting as: “Black Guy”? “Bob Marley”? “LL Cool J”? “Sambo”? “Frederick Douglass”? “Negro Customer”? “Negro?” “Darkie”? “Nig”? “Nigga”? “Nigger”? And again, keep in mind that none were addressed toward the customer, just printed on the receipt for identification purposes that the clerk may/may not/should have/should have not known that the customer would actually see. ---
**Author:** ![adaher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dec6dc/32.png) [@adaher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/adaher)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2013, 4:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discrimination-at-cvs-against-asians/656082/26 "2013-04-20T16:08:48Z")
This happens all the time at pizza places. I’ve never heard of anyone winning a lawsuit over it, but companies are afraid of the PR and often settle for reasonable amounts(reasonable as in free pizzas or thousands of dollars, not millions or even tens of thousands.) When I worked for Pizza Hut, we had a few situations. None racist, but pissed off employees would put things on the ticket like, “What a bitch.” and then the driver hands her the original ticket and then you’re in some doodoo. However the Dominos closest to me got in the local news for putting Dirty Haitian where the customers’ name should have been. [http://articles.sun-sentinel.com/1998-07-27/news/9807260088\_1\_domino-s-pizza-domino-s-job-attorney](http://articles.sun-sentinel.com/1998-07-27/news/9807260088_1_domino-s-pizza-domino-s-job-attorney) And fortunately, Sun-Sentinel keeps good archives. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2013, 11:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discrimination-at-cvs-against-asians/656082/27 "2013-04-20T23:00:05Z")
> [@jtgain](#): > > These tags are just used as descriptors, correct? They are used so that an employee won’t confuse Customer #1’s product with Customer #2’s product. When I worked at Eckerd we just used the customers’ names. I’m guessing this is something they are writing on the labels for people who are waiting on prescriptions. ---
**Author:** ![Terra1041](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c5a1d2/32.png) [@Terra1041](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Terra1041)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2013, 4:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discrimination-at-cvs-against-asians/656082/28 "2013-04-21T04:16:49Z")
> [@John\_Mace](#): > > I can one-up that. I used to work with a guy whose name was Yaw Hu. > > And another whose name was Cholera. Vietnamese names are ofter rather unfortunate-sounding in English. My workplace has a lot of Vietnamese employees, and I’ve worked with people named Ho, Dung, Phuc, and Dang. ---
**Author:** ![hajario](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hajario/32/171_2.png) [@hajario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hajario)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2013, 6:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discrimination-at-cvs-against-asians/656082/29 "2013-04-21T06:19:22Z")
> [@Terra1041](#): > > Vietnamese names are ofter rather unfortunate-sounding in English. My workplace has a lot of Vietnamese employees, and I’ve worked with people named Ho, Dung, Phuc, and Dang. When I was in grad school, one of the other students in my lab was from Viet Nam and his name was Hung Dong. A few years later we ended up working for the same company and he had changed his name. ---
**Author:** ![UltraVires](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ecccb3/32.png) [@UltraVires](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UltraVires)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2013, 6:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discrimination-at-cvs-against-asians/656082/30 "2013-04-22T18:10:10Z")
> [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](#): > > When I worked at Eckerd we just used the customers’ names. I’m guessing this is something they are writing on the labels for people who are waiting on prescriptions. I remember a few years ago when the Celtics were playing the Lakers in the finals. My friends and I all were married, and our wives hated basketball. No problem; we all went out to Hooters to watch the game. I remember on about the 5th night we were there, the bartender handed me my tab and the name “Boston” was on there. I asked her why she did that, and she says that she used names that she could remember. Since I was always yelling and cheering for the Celtics, she used “Boston” for my tab. Should she have not realized that the name ended up on the receipt, maybe she could have put “Asshole” or “Dickhead” to better remind herself if she felt that way about me. 🙂 That’s probably what happened here. Some dumbass working at CVS just used the name “Ching Chong” to remind him that this receipt was the Asian girl’s, and either not realizing that she would see the name or not realizing how offensive it was. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2013, 6:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discrimination-at-cvs-against-asians/656082/31 "2013-04-22T18:21:06Z")
Most likely. Assuming that’s the case, there are two object lessons here: (1) the value of an ethnic slur as a memory aid is probably not worth the cost; and (2), don’t hire people who call Koreans “Ching Chong”. ---
**Author:** ![Magiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4491bb/32.png) [@Magiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Magiver)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2013, 6:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discrimination-at-cvs-against-asians/656082/32 "2013-04-22T18:30:38Z")
> [@tim314](#): > > I don’t know if she’ll actually get a million dollars out of it. But the employee ought to be fired. Referring to your paying customers with racial slurs isn’t a sign that you need “sensitivity training”, it’s a sign that you’re an idiot who is not competent to work in any position where you might potentially have to interact with customers. Is that a racial slur? ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2013, 6:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discrimination-at-cvs-against-asians/656082/33 "2013-04-22T18:35:31Z")
> [@Magiver](#): > > Is that a racial slur? How could that be taken for a racial slur? ---
**Author:** ![David\_H\_Singanas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ac8455/32.png) [@David\_H\_Singanas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/David_H_Singanas)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2013, 10:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discrimination-at-cvs-against-asians/656082/34 "2013-04-23T10:52:36Z")
> [@lawbuff](#): > > I checked her Attorney’s web site, and she has a copy of it, 7 count complaint including Intentional and Negligent infliction of emotional distress and violation of that states civil rights laws also. > > [http://www.appellate-brief.com/images/stories/PDF/Lee/cmpl1.pdf](http://www.appellate-brief.com/images/stories/PDF/Lee/cmpl1.pdf) Lawbuff, you and Oakminister are obviously in the legal profession. I say this is a good case because the receipt is PRINTED “Ching Chong Lee.” I saw this receipt either in the press or online somewhere. Regardless of how many Korean pharmacists get paychecks from CVS, this is a racial insult by a CVS agent and I think a million dollar award is reasonable. Of course the appeals court judge will probably knock this figure down anyway. We know how that goes. I have been to Busan and Inchon. The South Koreans are known worldwide for their hospitality to foreigners. About one half of all South Koreans are Christians. The Japanese killed off their Christians centuries ago but the South Koreans had no reluctance to let Christ come ashore in their country. ---
**Author:** ![Monty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/monty/32/47_2.png) [@Monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Monty)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2013, 11:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discrimination-at-cvs-against-asians/656082/35 "2013-04-23T11:59:17Z")
> [@David\_H\_Singanas](#): > > I have been to Busan and Inchon. The South Koreans are known worldwide for > their hospitality to foreigners. Except for the bit about “nor foreigners allowed” in a lot of places recently, such as the spas. Wonderful hospitality, that. > [@](#): > > About one half of all South Koreans are Christians. > The Japanese killed off their Christians centuries ago but the South Koreans had > no reluctance to let Christ come ashore in their country. Didn’t someone suggest you read a book? I suggest you start with one about a Korean king by the name of Yeongjo. Once you learn about how he treated Christians in Korea, you can then pick up a book about how not all the Christians in Japan were killed and that there are still Christians in Japan now. Or better yet, you can just stop posting nonsense. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2013, 2:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discrimination-at-cvs-against-asians/656082/36 "2013-04-23T14:31:23Z")
> [@David\_H\_Singanas](#): > > Regardless of how many Korean pharmacists get paychecks from CVS, this is a racial insult by a CVS agent and I think a million dollar award is reasonable. On what grounds? There is no statute or rule of common law that provides for damages on the sole ground that somebody has been racially insulted. ---
**Author:** ![lawbuff](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/13edae/32.png) [@lawbuff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lawbuff)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2013, 2:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discrimination-at-cvs-against-asians/656082/37 "2013-04-23T14:43:29Z")
> [@David\_H\_Singanas](#): > > Lawbuff, you and Oakminister are obviously in the legal profession. I’m not, but thanks for the compliment, just study law to keep my mind sharp, but I did take Criminal law in College as my Major though and study law in general. The problem I have with the prayer for a million is that the attorney points out the vast wealth of CVS, like saying they can afford it, even if the plaintiff is not entitled to it??? I am not a lawyer, but I would have left that part out. … and therefore a claim for punitive and/or exemplary damages of One Million Dollars is justified, considering Defendants **vast wealth of billions of dollars made a year** … ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2013, 3:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discrimination-at-cvs-against-asians/656082/38 "2013-04-23T15:07:28Z")
In the context of a punitive damage claim, you more or less have to say something like that, because the award is meant to be tailored to deter future wrongdoing (and thus should reflect the ability of the defendant to pay). ---
**Author:** ![Magiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4491bb/32.png) [@Magiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Magiver)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2013, 5:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discrimination-at-cvs-against-asians/656082/39 "2013-04-23T17:51:54Z")
again, where is the soul crushing insult? A person of Asian heritage is referred to as a person of Asian heritage. If someone in Japan wrote “snuffy smith” in Japanese on my ticket I wouldn’t be crushed. I once had a young kid ask his co-hort at a food outlet what “old-dude is waiting on”. I was in my late 30’s at the time, standing 8 feet away with perfect hearing, and also the only person there. It made for a funny story in the retelling, not a lawsuit for a million dollars. This women needs a skin transplant because her’s is waaaaay too thin. ---
**Author:** ![Leaper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/4bbf92/32.png) [@Leaper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaper)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2013, 6:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discrimination-at-cvs-against-asians/656082/40 "2013-04-23T18:13:01Z")
Mocking “parodies” of other languages have long been considered racial insults. Think about how racists “speak” African or Middle Eastern languages. See: _Breakfast at Tiffany’s_ (IIRC) for a specific cultural example that’s been called out in the past. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discrimination-at-cvs-against-asians/656082.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discrimination-at-cvs-against-asians/656082.md?page=3)