There may be a few holes in his case.
Posted on 12/08/2004 10:10:50 AM PST by lindor
BANGOR - An Old Town man filed a discrimination lawsuit in federal court Monday alleging that Dunkin' Donuts in Old Town refused him service because of his race. Anthony Watkins, 51, is seeking $50,000 in compensatory damages and $250,000 in punitive damages from Lovley Development Inc., the Newport firm that owns the Old Town Dunkin' Donuts franchise. He also is seeking a jury trial and a $10,000 fine under the Maine Civil Rights Act.
Greg Lovley, owner of the coffee shop, said Tuesday that he had not received a copy of the lawsuit. He said that Watkins had not been refused service but had refused to place an order.
"I've been in business 24 years, served millions of customers and never had a complaint like this," Lovley said Tuesday.
Old Town businessman Watkins, who is black, and his 6-year-old son allege that they were in the store on March 14, 2003, when clerks ignored them for at least five minutes to wait on other customers, according to the complaint filed in U.S. District Court in Bangor.
When Watkins complained about his treatment, store personnel called Old Town police.
"Mr. Watkins picked his son up after school and they went across Stillwater Avenue to Dunkin' Donuts because Friday was doughnut day" for them, Watkins' attorney, Brett Baber of Bangor, said Monday. "He is pursuing this because of his son."
When other customers saw Watkins and his son waiting, they offered to let the pair in line ahead of them, Baber said. At that point, Dunkin' Donuts' personnel allegedly accused Watkins of cutting in line. Watkins disputed that and had to raise his voice to be heard over the televisions that were playing loudly in the coffee shop, Baber said Monday.
Lovley said Tuesday that Watkins went to a register that was closed instead of the two that were open. When told the register was closed, Watkins argued with employees until other customers let him in line in front of them, according to the owner. He refused to give an order in that line, and because of his behavior, employees called the police to have Watkins removed.
Old Town police said Monday that there is no report about the incident on file.
Watkins had no complaints about the way police handled the situation, according to Baber.
Officers told the boy that his father "was standing up for his rights," the attorney said Monday.
Earlier this year, Watkins filed a complaint with the Maine Human Rights Commission but received a right-to-sue letter last month when the commission did not rule on his case in the required time period.
Presumably, this means they were served in the past. I guess they just arrived on "discrimination week".
That has happened to me MANY times! Wonder if I should contact an attorney.
You guys need tort reform so bad.
You got that right.
Where are you at?
Can't a black man get a creuler in 2004?
Five minutes? Oh, the humanity?
When Watkins complained about his treatment, store personnel called Old Town police.
Any bets on whether a phone was necesary to accomplish this?
Until we stop voting in so many attorneys to our government, that will never happen.
Seems like he is creating a problem where none exists.
Ever go to Dunkin Donuts? I do, very rarely. Usually they are not too busy but there have been times in the past where the wait was very long, and the staff was slow, and rude to *everyone.* Who knew I could sue over that? ;-)
If you really want be treated like crap, go to Starbucks. Dunkin' Donuts is just busy, and the clerks probably don't understand much English.
There may be a few holes in his case.
ROFL!!! Obviously it's easy to ignore this guy! :-)
The key to being successful in a small business used to be buy low, sell high. Thanks to Jesse, NAACP, the trial lawyers and so many others it's now: buy low, sell high and don't get sued in between.
I wonder how many jobs these frivolous lawsuits cost the country.
How could there be an incident like this in a donut shop? Where were the cops?
But...but...I thought only Southerners were racist bigots.
Sure can't, because Dunkin' Dognuts calls them "sticks" now. As in: "I'd like two glazed chocolate sticks."
""Mr. Watkins picked his son up after school and they went across Stillwater Avenue to Dunkin' Donuts because Friday was doughnut day" for them"
So does this mean that Mr.Watkins and son were in the Dunkin donuts store before and were served without a problem?
If not, then where would they normally go on 'donuts day'?
Dude! What kind of service do you expect at a donut shop? If you want to get waited on by rocket scientists, you gotta buy a rocket!
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