A Peruvian Lima restaurant in Concord, California served its last meal on New Year’s Eve after being financially squeezed by the weight of a recent lawsuit.
Lima found herself in the national spotlight by hosting a weekly women’s promotion. This promotion was a once common and highly profitable practice of offering discounted drinks to attract women to the area. However, Chef/owner John Marquez told the New York Post that a sex discrimination lawsuit filed last year cost his restaurant tens of thousands of dollars.
“We have not fully recovered from the recent discrimination case related to our women’s discount,” Marquez recently told KRON-TV. He also suggested to the media that the people trying the case are probably not local residents, but rather “ambulance-chasing lawyers” who want to take advantage of California state laws.
The owner of a restaurant in Lima, John Marquez, criticized the case and said it brought down his restaurant. (ABC7 News)
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He similarly told ABC7 News, “It’s an absurd case that has brought us down.”
But California law on the books does state that businesses must provide “full and reasonable accommodation” regardless of who the customers are.
The Unruh Civil Rights Act, a California law that has been in place for decades, states that “All persons within the jurisdiction of this state are free and equal, and without regard to sex, race, color, religion, ancestry, national origin, disability, treatment.” status, genetic information, marital status, gender preference, citizenship, primary language, or immigration status are entitled to full and equal residency, benefits, facilities, rights, or services in all institutions of business of all kinds.”
A CNN report on the latest incident quoted a University of San Diego law and business ethics professor, Rebecca Nieman, who warned, “Most of these mom-and-pop bars actually probably don’t know about this law,” and that this is why such cases happen to “very small owners.”
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The sign that announced the upcoming closing of the Lima restaurant.
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But many businesses other than restaurants are facing the consequences of this California law.
The Fresno Grizzlies, a minor league baseball team, is facing a similar lawsuit, reportedly being fined $5-million after it allowed free admission to women to promote “ladies night” last year.
The plaintiffs in that case were represented by Alfred Rava, a San Diego-based attorney who had also sued the Oakland Athletics in a class action lawsuit over the Mother’s Day giveaway of a free throwback bucket hat.