A little help and insight please

[NateX]

Ok, here is the situation. I and my girlfriend went to a diner yesterday to pick up some money from a friend of ours to pay his computer payment. I pick this up on a weekly basis, but Kit is usually never with me. As I put my hand on the door, the owner looked at my friend and said, "They can't come in here." I found out, it was because he didn't like that we were in a relationship. I consulted a local attorney, this is a rather small very religious town, and he said that we had no case, he could refuse service to anyone.

Is there anyone who MIGHT be able to help us, if nothing more than as the principle of the situation.

[Tristan]

Aclu?

[ZenFrost]

You could talk to the press, or if the town is small enough, you could just try using word of mouth to let people know about the place's discrimination. You could also try to file a complaint with someone (the BBB if they're registered). But otherwise you might just have to let it go, besides refusing the place your business there might not be anything else you can do.

[Cai]

Unfortunately, the lawyer's right - it's a private business, they can refuse service to anyone for any reason. I'd go with the word-of-mouth approach: tell all your friends and people that you get along with not to support that business, because of how they treat you.

[O2B Barbara]

I find it amazing that there are so many narrow minded people out there. Word of mouth may be the best avenue here as the dollar speaks loudly.

[SirTrey]

I

find it amazing that there are so many narrow minded people out there. Word of mouth may be the best avenue here as the dollar speaks loudly.

Wow.....Scary that we have to live in a world with idiots like this.....Probably is nothing you can do BUT word of mouth, but so sorry to hear this happened to you, dude....<<sigh>>

[Fire Falcon]

Small towns suck.

Me and my ex-girlfriend got flipped off for just glancing at this group of guys... when we weren't even looking at them really, but the building behind them.

I agree with the word of mouth thing. You might also try writing a letter to the editor and complaining. Sometimes that works, and the more people who read the paper... :)

[Nicki B]

Unfortunately, the lawyer's right - it's a private business, they can refuse service to anyone for any reason.

Could they do it to women, or blacks, or jews????


Nate, why do you have to go there for the payment?

[Cai]

Could they do it to women, or blacks, or jews????

Yes. They can't refuse employment, as those are protected categories, but they can refuse service to anyone, at any time, for any reason. It's supposed to protect the store owner from abusive customers, but it does sometimes allow them to be abusive themselves.

[waspookie6]

You could talk to the press, or if the town is small enough, you could just try using word of mouth to let people know about the place's discrimination. You could also try to file a complaint with someone (the BBB if they're registered). But otherwise you might just have to let it go, besides refusing the place your business there might not be anything else you can do.

Zen has the most seeming effective method of how to communicate that intolerance will not be tolerated.
Nate, are you up to contacting the local papers? It would be a very good way to educate not just those in your area but from other towns close by as well.

The chain is not broken by silence.

[Nicki B]

Yes. They can't refuse employment, as those are protected categories, but they can refuse service to anyone, at any time, for any reason. It's supposed to protect the store owner from abusive customers, but it does sometimes allow them to be abusive themselves.

In the UK, I'm happy to say that would be illegal. There would have to be a good reason other than race, religion or sexual orientation - and they would have to convince a court there was..

[Cai]

Oh, wait. Apparently I was wrong!

http://www.legalzoom.com/legal-artic...icle13721.html

The Federal Civil Rights Act guarantees all people the right to "full and equal enjoyment of the goods, services, facilities, privileges, advantages, and accommodations of any place of public accommodation, without discrimination or segregation on the ground of race, color, religion, or national origin."

The right of public accommodation is also guaranteed to disabled citizens under the Americans with Disabilities Act, which precludes discrimination by businesses on the basis of disability.

On the other hand, a California court decided that a restaurant owner could not refuse to seat a gay couple in a semi-private booth where its policy was to only seat two people of the opposite sex in such booths. There was no legitimate business reason for the refusal of service, and so the discrimination was arbitrary and unlawful.

http://www.legalmatch.com/law-librar...e-service.html

Does a Restaurant Have the Unrestricted Right to Refuse Service to Specific Patrons?

No. The Civil Rights Act of 1964 explicitly prohibits restaurants from refusing service to patrons on the basis of race, color, religion, or natural origin. In addition, most courts don’t allow restaurants to refuse service to patrons based on extremely arbitrary conditions. For example, a person likely can’t be refused service due to having a lazy eye.

How Can a Lawyer Help Me?

If you were unjustly refused service at a restaurant, you should contact a constitutional law attorney immediately. A lawyer can help determine the existence of any unlawful discrimination, as well as the overall strength of your individual case.

So it looks like you would have legal recourse if you wanted it, Nate, if sexual orientation is a protected class in your state, or you could make a claim that it was an "arbitrary" refusal of service.

[NateX]

Nate, why do you have to go there for the payment?

Because that's where I pick the money up from. It's ok, we've taken to him giving me the money for the payment the day before.

So it looks like you would have legal recourse if you wanted it, Nate, if sexual orientation is a protected class in your state, or you could make a claim that it was an "arbitrary" refusal of service.

Unfortunately, in Texas, my sexual orientation is cause for me to hide. Not only is it not a protected class, our previous governor, or present President, if you prefer, tried to make it illegal.

Thank you all for your support in this, but we've figured out what to do. We're going to find the most flamboyantly gay people we can find, and flood the restaurant. Payback, and the added satisfaction of a moron being uncomfortable and standing against a wall all day.