The New York City Commission on Human Rights issued a $5,000 fine to an Indian restaurant for hiring an Indian waiter, the New York Post reported Wednesday.
Shalom Bombay in Midtown Manhattan posted an ad in October of 2013 on Craigslist, asking for an"experienced Indian waiter or waitress," which led the city council initiative to conduct an investigation into the business’s hiring practices leading to a trial this past April.
Documents from the case said that "there was no complaint from the public, there was no evidence of how many people viewed the posting, and there was no direct evidence that any qualified applicant was turned away."
The restaurant had been closed for almost a year since the trial, causing the Judge to reduce the fine from $7,500 to $5,000 for the two year old advertisement that discriminated, "based on national origin."
The Human Rights Commission is known for tactics such as searching for classified ads that violate the city’s laws, such as looking for an ad requesting a waitress instead of a wait-person.
A spokesperson said the commission will be evaluating its current tactics in investigating other cases.
"The commission’s new leadership, as of February 2015, is currently assessing its investigatory strategy to implement more comprehensive and strategic investigations to proactively root out systemic discrimination in employment, housing, and public accommodations and expand the commission’s testing programs in these areas," the spokesperson told the New York Post.