A restaurant server in Toronto is now out of work after referring to an Asian couple as “China” on their official receipt.
Tracey Yang and her boyfriend, who called it an act of racism, were the only Asian customers at the Working Dog Saloon in Scarborough before 2 p.m. on July 12.
The couple was having lunch when the server, identified only as Sarah, delivered their bill to the table.
Shocked at being named an entire country, Yang reportedly confronted Sarah, but the server “completely brushed it off.”
Yang reached out to the restaurant’s management multiple times but failed to establish contact.
Sarah was fired only after a series of exchanges between Yang and local news outlet blogTO, which managed to reach restaurant owner Siva Velippillai.
In her defense, Sarah claimed that “China” was simply a typographical error, because she meant to write “Chan” and their POS system performed the autocorrection.
The server reportedly stated that she picked up “Chan” from the couple, but Yang argued that she never gave her a last name.
Velippillai, an immigrant from Sri Lanka, concluded that Sarah performed an act of racism after speaking to her the second time.
“It wasn’t until the server in question’s complete unawareness and compassion to the situation that I realized she was not telling the truth,” he told blogTO. “I come from Sri Lanka. I escaped a war-torn country where the government committed genocide towards us for being who we are. I understand the mental trauma racism leaves on an individual. I am also personally disgusted by the server’s actions.”
Velippillai fired the server and apologized to Yang, particularly for not acting sooner.
Yang pointed out that she does not seek vengeance by coming forward, but instead, she hopes to join “other voices that are shouting this kind of systemic racism is not acceptable.”
Feature Images via Working Dog Saloon (left) and Tracey Yang (right)
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