Ever been nervous about paying your tab with a $100 bill?

A pair of diners who say they tried to pay for their meal with a $100 bill have filed a $400,000 lawsuit against Applebee's -- claiming they went through a nightmarish experience after overzealous restaurant staff in Grants Pass accused them of being criminals.

Nicholas Baugh and Ashley Mason say restaurant staff insisted the bill was a fake, video-recorded them with an iPhone, summoned police and tried to have them arrested in front of dozens of customers last Feb. 15, according to the couple and the lawsuit filed in Multnomah County Circuit Court last week.

A spokesman for Applebee's declined to comment, citing the pending litigation.

"As soon as they (police) came to my table, my stomach just dropped," said Baugh, who was worried he and Mason wouldn't be able to get home to their 4-year-old daughter.

Baugh, 31, told The Oregonian/OregonLive that a police officer had put on his rubber gloves and was about to handcuff him when Baugh convinced the officer to re-test the bill using a special pen, even though restaurant staff said the bill had already failed the test.

"It had a strip, it had a hologram, you could see the blue and red fibers," Baugh said of the bill in question that night. "The cops said, 'Oh, it's definitely a good one, but it's counterfeit.'"

Baugh said he had a half-dozen $100s in his wallet that night after having collected rent from a tenant in the area. He said he knew the bills were authentic because he has experience checking the $100 bills that his renters sometimes use to pay him.

The second test showed the bill was genuine and police let Baugh and Mason go, according to the lawsuit.

The restaurant didn't apologize and told the couple that they weren't welcome back, the suit claims. The restaurant also falsely claimed that the couple had passed a counterfeit $100 a week earlier at the restaurant, the suit says.

"They're both 86'd from Applebee's forever," said Portland attorney Greg Kafoury, whose firm, Kafoury & McDougal is representing the couple. Baugh said Applebee's has been a favorite of his.

The suit seeks $200,000 each for Baugh and Mason, alleging false detention, slander, libel and humiliation. Baugh said the incident has shaken them, and they're nervous about being wrongly accused of being counterfeiters again. He said he now feels uncomfortable paying with big bills.

The restaurant is operated as part of a franchise. Among the defendants in the lawsuit: Apple AB Enterprises, which is the owner and operator, as well as Applebee's.

Read the lawsuit here.

-- Aimee Green

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