Woman Demands $1M Over Phrase Mocking Asians

A woman of Korean descent who claims a worker at a CVS in southern New Jersey used a phrase mocking Asians to identify her on a store receipt filed a lawsuit seeking $1 million in mental and emotional damages.

Hyun Lee said she had returned home from picking up her photos at the store and was sifting through them when she noticed the name on the receipt was “Ching Chong Lee” instead of her own.

“I was horrified because it just brought back old memories of growing up as a minority,” Lee said.

She said she was subjected to name-calling while growing up as an Asian in a diverse Bergen County town.

Lee said she believes someone deliberately changed the name on the receipt because the correct name appeared on an email from CVS saying that the photos were ready for pickup.

Attorney Susan Lask said her client picked up the photos in February at a CVS in Egg Harbor City. They have demanded the worker be fired, but that would not have stopped the lawsuit.

Lee said she did not return to the store when she saw the phrase and instead emailed a complaint. “I was disgusted. I didn’t want to go back to the store anymore,” she said.

She received an email back from CVS saying the worker would be “counseled and trained.” The email, included in the suit, also apologized for the worker’s behavior.

This article appeared in print on page 6 of the April 19th, 2013 edition of Hamodia.