 | We don't make these up, honest. |
Just when there appeared to have been a thaw in relations between the US and France, hostilities have resumed in earnest. The battleground this time is one of New York's most expensive restaurants, where three former waiters have filed a $5m lawsuit claiming they were dismissed for being French. René Bordet, 68, Jean-Claude Lesbre, 63 and Yves Thépault, 68, said the management at the 21 Club, a former speakeasy that is now a popular haunt of politicians, businessmen and Hollywood stars, "created and fostered an environment rife with anti-French sentiment."
| "And you won't believe how easy it was!" |
Both Mr Bordet and Mr Lesbre worked for 10 years as waiters and hosts at the restaurant before being sacked in 2004 for allegedly drinking wine on the job.
| Ohfergawdsake! Were they supposed to drink water? |
Mr Thépault, who had worked for 14 years as a waiter, was dismissed this year for alleged gross insubordination after an argument with a chef about a hamburger, the court papers said.
| "All I said was, 'you cook ze hamburger too long, and you do not use zat evil American cheese but a nice runny Chabichou du Poitou', and zoot alours, I was out on my, as you Americans say, keister!" |
The civil suit claimed that the management of the restaurant "made fun of Mr Bordet's French accent" and "expressed glee" that "President Bush hated the French".
| He doesn't hate them, he feels sorry that they're French. And what's wrong with your goofy, funny-sounding accent anyway, bub? |
The three men are seeking hundreds of thousands of dollars in back pay and $5m (£2.7m) in damages. |