The Complainant (C), belonging to an ethnic minority community of Hong Kong, visited an outlet of a restaurant chain (R) for lunch with his father during weekend. C said they were served good food but claimed the manner in which the service was provided was discriminatory. According to C, staff at R placed the bill for the food at his table a few minutes after serving food, while other diners were not subjected to the same procedure. C felt he was meted different treatment because of his race while the others were not because they were local Chinese and white people.

C lodged a complaint of race discrimination against R. R claimed that it was their standard practice of handing over the bill together with the meal during peak hours (e.g. at lunch) and was not, in any manner, intended to discriminate C. The case was settled through early conciliation after R agreed to change their practice and hand over the bill only after seeking approval from the customer.

Under the Race Discrimination Ordinance, it is unlawful if a service provider treats a customer less favourably because of his/her race in the terms, manner and quality in which the service is provided. In this case the restaurant requires only the customer belonging to certain ethnic group to settle the bill before finishing the meal while other customers are not asked to do so could be discriminatory.