Franklin, a U.S. born individual of English ancestry, works for the China Lights restaurant, which is owned and operated by two U.S. citizens of Chinese ancestry. Franklin's coworkers Jin Pan and Dongping Jiang, also U.S. citizens of Chinese ancestry, are late for work virtually every day, but no action is taken against them for this, even though the owners are aware of Jin and Dongping's tardiness, and even though there is a stated workplace policy that an employee reporting to work late, more than once in a sixty day period will be dismissed. Franklin reports to work late twice, 55 days apart, and he is dismissed.