Law
Lawsuit accuses car dealership of discrimination


A four-year-old lawsuit accuses a bankrupt car dealership in Rapid City, South Dakota, of taking advantage of Indian consumers.

The J.D. Byrider lot promised to help Indian consumers rebuild their credit, the suit alleges. But dealers sold defective cars at high interest rates and failed to abide by warranty agreements, a lawyer said.

John Shaw, a member of the Rosebud Sioux Tribe, and his wife, Jackie, are plaintiffs in the suit. They bought a car from the dealership for $7,000 but the cost was really $11,000, they said. The car soon stopped working and the dealers refused to fix it.

The lot was owned by the Nelson family, who is the target of a similar suit filed by the Iowa attorney general. The Iowa suit pushed the family company into bankruptcy.

Get the Story:
Lawsuit alleges racial targeting (The Rapid City Journal 7/22)