Blue State = Third World (A Tale of Bureaucratic Extortion)
4th May 2013
So when the owners needed a bartender last year, they sought someone who knew the territory. “Energetic and enthusiastic men and women with an appreciation of craft beer, good food, whisky and real football (a k a soccer),” the Craigslist ad read in part. “Being British definitely works in your favor.”
The résumés trickled in. One applicant, however, was not really looking for a job. She already had one: trolling the classifieds for the New York City Commission on Human Rights.
Soon, Longbow received a legal notice. The bar, it said, had violated discrimination law “by giving a preference to employment applicants based on their national origin.”
The commission offered to settle the matter for $2,500.
How generous. Nice to know that justice in New York can be bought.
Justin Brannan, spokesman for the local city councilman, Vincent J. Gentile, had some choice words for the commission’s efforts, including “quintessential ‘letter of the law,’ versus ‘spirit of the law’ ” and “predatory ‘gotcha’ enforcement” that he said belied the city’s pro-small-business cant. “They’re not enforcing these laws to protect the public,” said Mr. Brannan, who is also president of a club, the Bay Ridge Democrats, that has held events at Longbow. “They’re enforcing them to generate revenue.”
Oh, ya think? (And to look good in front of their bosses.)
On Thursday, Ms. Colbert said, she got a call from a commission official who warned that the fine could rise to $7,500 if she went to trial before an administrative law judge. “He also had the audacity to tell me that according to my requirements, I was not qualified to work in my own pub,” she added.
The official, Ms. Colbert said, urged her to pay the fine before the date of a coming “conciliation meeting.” The meeting is to be scheduled for next month, she said.
In other words, pay us now or pay us more later. Stand up for your rights and common sense, and the price goes up.