Surjeet Bussi filed $1.26 million lawsuit against Prestige motors.
AB Wire
In a recent racist incident, a car dealer in New Jersey refused to sell a Mercedes-Benz vehicle to a man of Indian origin because the manager worried that he would export the car to the Taliban.
Surjeet Bassi, a 50-year-old Indian-American resides at Wallkill, New Jersey for 30 years and owner of Orange County Medi-Coach, a company that provide medical transportation services, was refused the car by Prestige Motors when he went to exchange his Mercedes Benz ML350 for a newer model, Times Herald-Record reports.
Bassi went to Prestige Motors because they were giving a better deal and had the black interior on the SUV that he wanted. After negotiating the deal with a salesman, passing a credit check, paying $1,000 down payment and even showing Prestige his bank statement the dealer manager suddenly summoned Bassi into his office and told him that he couldn’t sell him the car.
The manager explained that Bassi came from a “high-risk area” where people buy cars and ship them to the Taliban.
As reported by Times Herald-Record, the manager had also looked up Bassi’s name in the federal database but found nothing. The report adds that Bassi even had willing to sign a waiver to not export his car for three years.
Bassi was “heartbroken” at the treatment meted out to him and the fact that he could be associated with terrorist. His attorney, Michael Sussman, claimed that “ the case is part of a larger pattern of discrimination against immigrants and those who look different”.
Bussi filed $1.26 million lawsuit against Prestige claiming racial discrimination and its refusal to extend credit under the federal Credit Opportunity Act.
In 2014, half-a-dozen salesmen were fired from Prestige Motors over allegations in connection to exporting luxury vehicles to China that was investigated by the New York Attorney General.