They opened a Haitian food truck. Then they were told, 'Go back to your own country,' lawsuit says
They opened a Haitian food truck. Then they were told, 'Go back to your own country,' lawsuit says
The owners of a Haitian food truck are suing a small town in Virginia over allegations that a town council member cut the food truck's water line and screamed, ‘Go back to your own country.’
A married couple who fled Haiti for Virginia achieved their American dream when they opened a variety market on the Eastern Shore, selling hard-to-find spices, sodas and rice to the region’s growing Haitian community.
When they added a Haitian food truck, people drove from an hour away for freshly cooked oxtail, fried plantains and marinated pork.
But Clemene Bastien and Theslet Benoir are now suing the town of Parksley, alleging that it forced their food truck to close. The couple also say a town council member cut the mobile kitchen’s water line and screamed, “Go back to your own country!”
“When we first opened, there were a lot of people” ordering food, Bastien said, speaking through an interpreter. “And the day after, there were a lot of people. And then ... they started harassing us.”
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The couple failed to apply for a conditional use permit and chose to sue instead, the law firm countered. It said the council member cut an illegal sewage pipe — not a water line — after the food truck dumped grease into Parksley’s sewage system, causing damage.
And also:
_The food truck opened in June on the store’s property after the couple passed a state health inspection and obtained a $30 business license, their lawsuit stated. But Henry Nicholson, the council member, allegedly complained the food truck would hurt restaurants that buy equipment from his appliance store.
Nicholson cut the water line, causing $1,300 in spoiled food, the lawsuit said, and then tried to block a food shipment and screamed: “Go back to your own country!” when Bastien confronted him._
Could they have passed inspection if it was the alleged illegal sewage line? Can the town prove that and that grease was dumped in it? How does that differ from any other not-bright household dumping grease down the sink, because it seems likely a place where several households might do.
Why is a council member cutting any pipes. Pretty sure that's not their job.
I am sure that according to some nonzero number of his constituents, damaging property and screaming to drive away brown immigrants who are threatening the white people's investments is 100% his job and what they elected him for.
This person is most definitely representing their constituency.
Only the skinny ones. If you get between me and marinated pork...well we are going to have words.
Yeah; but just because that’s their reality doesn’t mean it’s consensus reality (ok maybe in that area but in general. So far.).
Agreed
Lol! You got me, there, but I was hyper-focused on if the business passed requirements or off some other permit would be needed.
Still, that guy just sounds cray/hateful.
They claim that this particular person is also in the public works department or something, arguing (I guess) that he was authorized to do that. In reality, you'd probably need to have gotten the courts involved by that point before just summarily doing what you like.
Volume. The difference between a household and a restaurant is the volume of grease