Arturo Chavarria and his wife, Lux Maria Chavarria, have asked for at least $1 million in damages related to a Sept. 5 incident at the JC Penney store at Cottonwood Mall.
When the couple and their children went to a store cash register to buy some items, clerk Richard Creel mistakenly charged full price for clearance items, according to the lawsuit. Arturo Chavarria pointed out the error as he was ringing the sale up.
He gave Creel his tax exemption card and explained he was exempt from sales taxes as a diplomat, the suit said.
The clerk allegedly refused to read the card, which Arturo Chavarria explained had been issued to him by the U.S. government. The clerk said he did not have time to read the card, even though there were no other customers in line or appearing to need help, according to the complaint.
Arturo Chavarria then summoned a supervisor, who returned with him to Creel's register, where Creel would not deduct the tax and refused to finalize ringing up the purchases, according to the lawsuit.
The suit claims Creel became enraged and started yelling at the family, saying they were "illegals" and "nothing in this country," the suit said.
Chavarria, a 24-year veteran diplomat, says he "calmly" replied that he was a diplomat and that it was Creel who was "nothing," according to the lawsuit. Creel then allegedly lunged at Arturo Chavarria and threatened him. The supervisor escorted the family to another cashier to ring up the purchases.
As the family walked away, Creel continued to scream, "Get out of here, illegals, and go back to your own country! We don't want you here, [expletive] illegals," the lawsuit claims.
The family had to pass by Creel to get to the exit. Creel screamed at them and made obscene gestures, saying, "Get out of here [expletive] illegals. We don't need people like you," the lawsuit states.
The lawsuit alleges the family was discriminated against and assaulted by Creel and that JC Penney did not report the incident to authorities, do anything to prevent future incidents or protect the family from Creel's threats on their way out of the store.
JC Penney did not immediately respond for comment Wednesday afternoon. Richard Creel, who no longer works for the Cottonwood Mall store, could not be reached for comment.
eneff@sltrib.com
