College bus company accused of mocking Asian students settles lawsuit from attorney general — but likens deal to state extortion

By Dawn Rhodes
Chicago Tribune
April 17, 2019, 9:00 AM

A bus company that drew widespread criticism for an ad appearing to mock Chinese students at the University of Illinois has reached an agreement that will allow it to continue operating — but under close watch from the state’s top prosecutor for the next three years. ... Champaign-based Suburban Express, which operates shuttles between college campuses and the Chicago area, has finalized an agreement that ends a lawsuit brought by former Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan.

News reports in December 2017, including from the Tribune, detailed an emailed ad from the company that boasted, “You won’t feel like you’re in China when you’re on our buses” — an apparent swipe at the sizable population of Chinese students at U. of I. at Urbana-Champaign. ... A subsequent statement on the company’s Facebook page, titled “Apology,” assailed U. of I. leaders for “selling our university to the highest foreign bidder” before stating, “We did not intend to offend half the planet.”
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Within days of those reports, Madigan launched an inquiry into whether the company violated the Illinois Human Rights Act. That probe revealed “rampant and equally egregious examples of … illegal conduct,” Madigan said, prompting her to sue the company in Chicago federal court in April 2018. ... The lawsuit claimed that Suburban Express encouraged employees not to serve students who weren’t native English speakers. The suit also said company owner Dennis Toeppen posted a video that mocked U. of I. Asian students and banned customers with billing addresses in Chicago suburbs where there are sizable Jewish populations.

In one email, Madigan said, Toeppen called a customer “a pushy little Chinese international student with a fragile ego” who “should go back to your country and stay there,” according to the lawsuit. ... In another email he wrote, “Bone up on your English a little so you don't have more problems like this in my country,” the suit states.
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drhodes@chicagotribune.com

Twitter @rhodes_dawn

Attorney general: Toeppen, Suburban Express already violated consent decree
Wed, 04/17/2019 - 12:44pm | Ben Zigterman

CHAMPAIGN — Suburban Express and owner Dennis Toeppen have allegedly violated a consent decree reached last week with the Illinois attorney general.

According to a motion filed Wednesday morning by the AG seeking a $10,000 fine, Suburban Express posted defamatory webpages of customers and failed to post a nondiscrimination statement everywhere it was required to. ... Toeppen has also brought back his notorious "Page of Shame," which includes phone numbers, email addresses and home addresses of customers he says had dishonored payments, were "fare cheaters" or have been banned from Suburban Express.

"The Consent Decree requires Defendants 'not to penalize customers based solely on online comments about any Defendant, including reviews,'" Assistant Attorney General Jeff VanDam wrote. "Defendants flouted this requirement immediately after entry of the Consent Decree by posting a defamatory web page that penalizes a customer through viciously attacking the customer solely for online comments about Suburban Express."

The web page includes screenshots of that customer's Yelp reviews of Suburban Express, links to the Google Maps page for what Toeppen says is her childhood home and links to her LinkedIn page. It also criticizes her mental health.
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