A Bakersfield family says they were discriminated against by a UPS driver. Their neighbor e-mailed 17 News after he says the driver wrote a derogatory term on a tracking slip while dropping off a package.
Anant Singh says his father is a member of the Sikh religion and wears a turban. When his father signed for a UPS package last week, the driver asked for his signature as usual, the younger Singh said.
But the family calls what they found on the tracking slip days later both hurtful and upsetting.
“I just happened to see it said signed by the word "terrorist." So I was amazed. I printed the paper and read it again, and it said signed by a "terrorist," Singh explained.
Singh says it appeared to be business as usual when a UPS driver delivered a package to his home. He was at work so his father signed for the delivery.
“I came and opened the door. He gave me the package and I signed. No other talking. Nothing,” Singh’s father, Balbir, said.
Days later Singh was expecting another package. So he logged on to the UPS website, accidently entered the tracking number for the package that was already delivered, and found the word “terrorist” where the UPS driver usually enters the recipient's last name.
“It suddenly struck me, ‘oh my dad was wearing a turban.’ He wears a turban and belongs to Sikh religion,” Singh said.
Singh says after September 11 some Americans began to associate turbans with terrorists.
“Whether the guy belongs to Islam or Sikh or to any religion, looking at his physically appearance you should not make judgments,” Singh said.
Singh’s neighbor and friend emailed 17 News after he saw the tracking slip for himself.
“Somebody is practicing their religion you can't label them as a terrorist because they look like a Muslim or a Sikh to you,” friend Teg Sidhu said.
17 News called UPS and told them about the Singh family's experience and they released this statement:
"UPS regrets that inappropriate action was taken to enter a name into our delivery records after a recipient signed for a package. We sincerely apologize to our customer for any offense. Documentation noted in our tracking network has been removed."
We also asked UPS if the driver will be suspended or fired, they say all they can tell us is that the case is being investigated at the local level.
