The Los Angeles Times, and other news sources, have reported that a man suffering from Type 2 diabetes is suing a sushi restaurant in Studio City, California, for discrimination that caused the diner mental anguish, humiliation and embarrassment when they failed to honor an advertised special.
David Martin went to the A Ca-Shi Sushi restaurant as he was attracted to the “All the sushi you can eat for $28” that had been advertised that day.
Martin took a seat and began to order his selections. But, when he started to eat, the sushi restaurant’s owner, Jay Oh, noticed that Martin only ate the raw fish on top of the rice.
Martin chose to leave the column of rice, that sushi is routinely place on, behind.
Oh told Martin he could not receive the discounted price advertised because he wasn’t eating the rice. Martin explained to Oh that he was a diabetic and couldn’t eat rice.
Oh felt that Martin was filling up on the fish alone – eating the fish alone would take a lot longer, and a lot more of the costly fish, to fill a person up.
Oh instead offered to prepare only sashimi for Martin.
Raw fish served without rice is traditionally referred to as sashimi and is also traditionally more expensive than sushi.
After being told that two orders of sashimi would total $25 – $3 less than having the advertised all-you-can-eat deal – Martin turned Oh down on his offer.
But Martin was finally charged a per piece price for all the sushi he had already consumed as sashimi, and $1 for a cup of green tea that he had also ordered.
Two weeks after the incident Martin filed a lawsuit seeking $4,000 in damages for his “humiliation, embarrassment and mental anguish”. He contends that the damages sought are due to the suffering he had incurred – and the discrimination he felt was heaped on him because of
“his disability.”
The case was filed in Los Angeles County Superior Court.
Oh prefers to go to trial though his legal costs will most likely be higher than the $6,000 Martin allegedly asked him for not to go to trial.
Oh told a L.A. Times reporter, “I have to fight this. Why do I have to give this person money? I didn't do anything wrong.”
Stuart E. Cohen, Martin’s attorney said, “We are not after money, but a change in A Ca-Shi's thinking and policy. I would rather like to see A Ca-Shi succeed on a level playing field, not a discriminatory one.”
Oh strongly feels that his customers that want the all-you-can-eat special follow the restaurant policy of eating everything that is served. Oh said, “The rice is part of the all-you-can-eat sushi, if you only eat the fish, I would go broke.”
If you have been hurt in any way, by the actions of a business owner, contact a personal injury lawyer from our directory to discuss your case and seek monetary compensation. No one need stand for any type of humiliation, embarrassment or mental anguish stemming from discrimination.