Discrimination suit in Vienna (Washington: hair salon, insurance, mattress)

[marksanders]

I read the suit buy the African American mother and daughter as it made the papers here in Texas and I have to say after reading the article and the court document (found on the web) I am wondering if this suit is for just personal gain by taking advantage of an ugly situation....Racism.
The daughter bought a spa package for her mother at a hair salon. While she was recieving the total package, the daughter called the hair salon for an "extra"
hair coloring. She then went to the salon with the intent to pay for the extra she was told then that no one there did African American hair.( Not many African Americans went to this place). The way I understand it, she got all of the other services, no one was rude, and they filed a discrimination suit.
[b] Good Gosh!! If I went in to get my hair cut or anything and the manager said that they do not do white people's hair I would say ok...thank you for your honesty instead of taking my money and *****ing up my hair!!! To me, this would be a tip the mother and daughter should be grateful for, instead of claiming racism. This gives African-Americans a bad name and yes racism IS a serious subject. You have to wonder with BS lawsuits like this, how many REAL rascism lawsuits get overlooked and put into the same category as this one. Mark Sanders

[VT Hokie 2007]

It's a ridiculous suit--racists don't operate service businesses in the Washington, D.C. metro area. The place is too diverse for a neo na-zi or a black panther or a Klan member to open up shop.

[drika]

I agree. I guess foolishness seems to prevail....but this is ridiculous.

Originally Posted by marksanders

I read the suit buy the African American mother and daughter as it made the papers here in Texas and I have to say after reading the article and the court document (found on the web) I am wondering if this suit is for just personal gain by taking advantage of an ugly situation....Racism.
The daughter bought a spa package for her mother at a hair salon. While she was recieving the total package, the daughter called the hair salon for an "extra"
hair coloring. She then went to the salon with the intent to pay for the extra she was told then that no one there did African American hair.( Not many African Americans went to this place). The way I understand it, she got all of the other services, no one was rude, and they filed a discrimination suit.
[b] Good Gosh!! If I went in to get my hair cut or anything and the manager said that they do not do white people's hair I would say ok...thank you for your honesty instead of taking my money and *****ing up my hair!!! To me, this would be a tip the mother and daughter should be grateful for, instead of claiming racism. This gives African-Americans a bad name and yes racism IS a serious subject. You have to wonder with BS lawsuits like this, how many REAL rascism lawsuits get overlooked and put into the same category as this one. Mark Sanders

[VCUgrad]

I agree, I think this is just a ploy for them to get money. Probably hoping for an out of court settlement. Money-grubbers. Stupid suits like this is why our insurance is so high.
Even when it gets thrown out it still hurts everyone.

[rdsknfan]

It could backfire on the daughter & mother and the judge rules against them and decides that they pay the salon's attorney's fees also. Has anyone else heard of this? Would they have to file a countersuit to do this?

[primetime]

unfortunatly one can sue another for anything without having to pay the others legal fees . i think the loser of any case that needs to be brought before the court should have to pay the legal fees of the winner. wouldnt that put an end to all of these frivolous lawsuits ie: prisoners with nothing but time on their hands filing over a to thin mattress etc.

[JerryS]

Having to pay the attorney's fees of the winner of a lawsuit is legal if you countersue, which the salon can due. Also, the judge can throw out the suit before it even gets to court if it sounds like it is frivolous, or just plainly does not have any basis for a suit. This could happen to this suit.

[tyefrmny]

I haven't read this story, but this post is very interesting.
Without having all of the information, I'm not sure I can make an "informed" decision, but I don't think this is discrimination. I think the owners were correct to inform them if they did not do African American hair. I am an African American woman, and I would not be upset if someone told me that honestly. Considering the fact that they were receiving other services there, and they were not treated unfairly then I don't see what the lawsuit is about..unless there's something more to the story.

And yes, you're absolutely right about the insurance rates increasing because of a few bad apples. I am in the insurance industry as well, so I know how this works. How sad.

[seldomseen]

It's actually not uncommon for hair salons not to have staff that specialize or are experienced in cutting "ethnic" hair, as it's commonly referred too. Hence, many African American women just go to hair salons that do specialize in "ethnic" hair, many of which are African American owned/operated. It would be nice to see more traditional hair salons have staff that are trained in cutting "ethnic" hairs. However, as the previous member stated, without having all the facts, it's tough to say wether or not the lawsuit is bogus or not.

[rainmaker2007]

As someone with ethnic hair I have to wonder if anyone on this post even knows what they are talking about. The most successful businesses today (hair salon or otherwise) know it is good business to cater to ALL potential clients. Thankfully the salon industry is starting to realize this and schools are getting much better at making sure all stylists have at least a basic understanding of all hair types and required processes.
I have run into this so many times before, a stylist will assume without even examining my hair that they cannot do it -- they just look at the color of my skin and assume they know the deal. Well, it isn't quite that easy. People, white, black, Hispanic or Asian come with a variety of hair textures, lengths and so on. Just because a person is African American does not necessarily require that they have an African American specialist do their hair. My current stylist is in fact a Caucasian women and while she admits she was intimidated at first she agrees there is nothing extra or different to be done. It was all in her head.
In this particular situation, they didn't even examine her hair before they rejected her request. RED FLAG. All they examined was the color of her skin.