In the so-called post-racial American society, a French bakery in New York, “Framboise Patisserie” has been found to have discriminated against employment applicant Jamilah DaCosta, 25, due to her race. DaCosta was allegedly told by the co-owner of the bakery Patty Meimetea that she was unsuitable for the “counter girl” position, “because you’re black”, and that, if hired, she would scare away her white customers. Framboise Patisserie has been fined by the Human Rights Commission $25,000 for racial discrimination as well as on the ground of having posted a gender-specific Craigslist ad for a “counter-girl”.
“I felt hurt. I was disgusted,” DaCosta said. “Before I could even pull out my resume or start a formal interview, she was telling me all this negative stuff — she couldn’t hire me because I was black, I would scare away her customers. They’re not judging me on my personality, but my skin color. What century are we living in? I thought I had thick skin, I thought I could withstand anything, but it just completely broke me down.”
According to NY Daily News, “After an investigation and a trial, the commission last week fined the bakery $25,000 for racial and gender discrimination for weeding out DaCosta because of her race and discouraging men from applying for the job with a gender-specific “counter girl” ad on Craigslist.”
The commission found the pair’s denials weren’t credible, noting they admitted they had never hired a black person or a man to work the counter in the three years they had been in business
“Respondents’ actions were blatant violations,” the commission wrote in its decision. “Meimetea’s statements to Ms. DaCosta were cruelly and flagrantly bigoted and demeaning.”
The $25,000 penalty the commission ordered the bakery to pay includes $10,000 in damages to DaCosta, a $10,000 fine for racial discrimination for the shop’s treatment of DaCosta, and a $5,000 fine for gender discrimination for the “counter girl” ad.