Well, at least this is pretty good noise publicity.
The Social Outcast took Ishiro to court on 8 August for publishing racist, derogatory and baseless comments and reviews on public platforms.
They’re seeking $150,000 in damages and $50,000 in aggravated damages. Meanwhile, Ishiro has countersued for $63,000 in damages over defamation.
The Eateries Involved
The Social Outcast (TSO) is a Muslim-owned restaurant that was established in 2019, and serves smoked and charcoal grilled meat. It is owned by co-owners and couple Ms Noelle Chua and Mr Aminurrashid Hasnordin.
Meanwhile, Ishiro, owned by food company Oseas Pte Ltd, serves Japanese fusion rice bowls. The main person involved in this case is Mr Chua Wen Bin, who was employed by Ishiro as a manager.
During the alleged incidents, both restaurants were operating close to each other at Bedok Marketplace.
Negative Comments and Reviews on Facebook
TSO claimed that Mr Chua had published, or caused to be published, racist, derogatory and baseless comments and reviews against other F&B establishments, including TSO.
These were posted under a Facebook account that supposedly belongs to Mr Chua.
For instance, the posts published in December 2020 labelled Ms Chua as “fake”, described TSO’s food negatively, and claimed that TSO charged customers for free sauces. Some posts also allegedly used derogatory terms on Mr Aminurrashid and the Malay community.
TSO noted that one of the recipients of Mr Chua’s negative posts, Mentai-Ya, posted a video on Facebook that exposed his actions. Ishiro posted apologies on their social media that supposedly assumed full responsibility for Mr Chua’s actions.
Thus, TSO claims that Ishiro is vicariously liable for the posts made by Mr Chua, which is why they’re suing the entire company instead of just the individual.
Prank Deliveries
It doesn’t just end at Facebook posts, but even escalated to prank deliveries.
In January 2021, TSO received two large orders on GrabFood. The order placed TSO’s address as the recipient’s address, and chose “cash on delivery” as the payment method.
Since they didn’t realise the recipient’s address was their own, TSO prepared the food. They only realised that it was a prank when the rider took the food back to the stall.
Shortest ride ever, I guess?
This prank happened a second time, but the stall realised it early and didn’t prepare the order.
TSO said that after checking with Grab, both orders were found to be made through Mr Chua’s personal mobile number.
Ishiro Labelled It A Personal Spat, Cries Defamation
On the other hand, Ishiro argued that this entire case was a mere personal spat between Mr Aminurrashid and Mr Chua, yet TSO is “dragging Ishiro through the mud”.
Ishiro also said that TSO disseminated the letter of demand to media outlets for attention, which caused Ishiro to endure public abuse and damage to its reputation and earnings.
Additionally, Ishiro’s counsel led by Mr Wilbur Lim to WMH Law Corporation also contested the defamatory nature of the Facebook posts. For instance, Mr Lim asked Ms Chua whether comments about her “fake” smile and lack of food knowledge would even deter people from eating at TSO, since she wasn’t the chef.
However, Ms Chua countered him by saying that her sincerity and knowledge formed “intangible” parts of service that would affect customers’ view of TSO.
I mean, I wouldn’t eat at a place where the co-owner has no knowledge of the food she is selling, even if she isn’t the chef.
This trial is set to continue in the upcoming weeks with more people to take the stand.
In the meantime, if a legal dispute between two eateries isn’t exciting enough, you might want to watch this video on a legal dispute between two celebrities:
Featured Image: Facebook (The Social Outcast, Ishiro)