January 2, 2025
‘Haters’ Are Making ‘Ladies’ Night’ A Gender-Based Discrimination Issue
'Ladies' Night' promotions reportedly violate public accommodation laws in states that prohibit businesses from gender-based discrimination.
Due to public accommodation laws upheld in certain states, “Ladies’ Night” promotions have landed some business owners in court fighting gender-based discrimination lawsuits.
Over 20 states, one territory, and the District of Columbia have public accommodation laws that explicitly prohibit discrimination by business establishments based on sexual orientation and gender identity, according to the Movement Advancement Project. Rebecca Nieman, a business law and ethics professor at the University of San Diego, told CNN, “A lot of these small mom-and-pop-type bars honestly might not know about this law…Which is why you see these lawsuits still happening with these extremely small proprietors.”
“Most gender discrimination lawsuits against small businesses get settled outside of court,” Nieman said, and fighting discrimination lawsuits in court may be difficult for small businesses due to financial constraints.
For chef John Marquez, owner of Lima restaurant in Concord, California, a “ladies’ night” promotion that offered discounts to female customers forced his family-run establishment to close its doors permanently after he settled a discrimination lawsuit.
Fresno, California’s minor league baseball team, the Fresno Grizzlies, was slammed with a lawsuit earlier this year after hosting a “Ladies’ Night” promotion that granted females free admission to a game at Chukchansi Park on May 25, 2023. The lawsuit alleged the team’s promotion was “blatant gender discrimination” and violated The Unruh Civil Rights Act, The Fresno Bee reported. San Diego lawyer Alfred Rava, who represented the plaintiffs, said he has won several lawsuits alleging similar promotions, including a 2009 lawsuit where clients reached a $5000,000 settlement with the Oakland A’s, who hosted a Mother’s Day promotion at the time.
Law experts noted that businesses should make sure they understand what their insurance policies cover. Nieman added that liability insurance does not protect against discrimination.
Public accommodation laws that prohibit discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity are upheld in the following states/territories:
- California
- Colorado
- Connecticut
- Delaware
- District of Columbia
- Hawaii
- Illinois
- Iowa
- Maine
- Maryland
- Massachusetts
- Michigan
- Minnesota
- Nevada
- New Hampshire
- New Jersey
- New Mexico
- New York
- Oregon
- Rhode Island
- U.S. Virgin Islands
- Vermont
- Virginia
- Washington
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