The Maine Attorney General’s office has taken a civil rights enforcement action against a Florida woman who allegedly made racial slurs against an Asian-American woman and threatened to run her down in a restaurant parking lot.
Vicki Lush, age 66, of Port St. Lucie, Florida, will be forbidden to contact the Massachusetts woman who was sampling chowder June 6 at a Kennebunkport restaurant once a judge issues an order on the complaint. The order also seeks to forbid Lush from violating the Maine Human Rights Act in the future.
Lush allegedly referred to the woman as a “foreigner,” telling her to go back to “your country,” according to the attorney general’s office. The woman, who was visiting Maine from her home in Massachusetts, responded, “you wouldn’t say this to a white person.”
The Florida woman allegedly called the victim a “Chinese [expletive],” the attorney general’s office said Wednesday. Once in the parking lot, Lush threatened to hit the woman with her van and swerved her van in the direction of the woman.
Lush admitted that she told the woman, “you have no idea who you are messing with,” “I’ll lay you out right here,” “get out of my way or I’ll run you over,” and “you foreigners need to go home,” the complaint alleged.
“Maine should be a safe, welcoming place for everyone,” said Attorney General Aaron Frey. “The Maine Civil Rights Act recognizes that bias-based incidents like this one cause not only extreme harm to the victim but also to others in the community who might fear similar, unlawful, treatment. That is why my office will continue to pursue civil injunctions to protect communities targeted for their identities.”
The Maine Civil Rights Act prohibits the use of violence, the threat of violence, or property damage against any person motivated by that person’s race, color, religion, sex, ancestry, national origin, physical or mental disability or sexual orientation. Any violation of an injunctive order is a Class D crime, punishable by up to a year in jail and a $2,000 fine.
