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By Daniel Baxter |
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February 28, 2010
- All Nippon Airlines (ANA) announced ANA will designate
women-only lavatories, presumably on flights between
"Men will be
denied a lavatory because they are men though when necessary men will be
allowed to ask permission from a flight attendant to use the women-only
lavatory, which is gender-based discrimination, unequal treatment, and
in violation of |
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"Advertising
and providing women-only bathrooms, while denying male passengers
equal men-only bathrooms, is as illegal and repugnant as providing
only men-only bathrooms on ANA’s flights while denying female
passengers women-only bathrooms. So is advertising and providing
Caucasian-only bathrooms, but denying the same discount to customers
of color. Or advertising and providing heterosexual- or
Christian-only bathrooms. Simply put, it is against the law for a
business in
"The 2001
passage of Assembly Bill 587, which increased the civil penalty from
$1,000 to $4,000 per offense for victims of sex discrimination,
further exemplifies
"In the
leading California case on sex-based business practices, the
California Supreme Court in Koire v. Metro Car Wash (1985) 40 Cal.3d
24 unanimously held that sex-based business practices such as
Ladies’ Days and Ladies’ Nights violated the Unruh Act. Koire ruled
“the Legislature established that arbitrary sex discrimination by
business is per se injurious” and “differential pricing based on sex
may be generally detrimental to both men and women, because it
reinforces harmful stereotypes.” |
"Koire’s holding
was upheld by the California Supreme Court in Angelucci v. Century
Supper Club (2007) 41 Cal.4th 161, another “Ladies’ Night” case, wherein
the Court unanimously ruled discrimination victims do not have to
affirmatively assert their right to equal treatment in order to have a
discrimination claim under the Unruh Act or Gender Tax Repeal Act. The
National Coalition For Men filed an amicus brief in support of the
prevailing appellants in Angelucci.
"All persons
within the jurisdiction of this state are free and equal, and no matter
what their sex, race, color, religion, ancestry, national origin,
disability, medical condition, marital status, or sexual orientation are
entitled to the full and equal accommodations, advantages, facilities,
privileges, or services in all business establishments of every kind
whatsoever.
"Similarly, Civil
Code section 51.5 mandates, No business establishment of any kind
whatsoever shall discriminate against, boycott or blacklist, or refuse
to buy from, contract with, sell to, or trade with any person in this
state on account of any characteristic listed or defined in subdivision
(b) or (e) of Section 51.
"Civil Code
section 51.6, Gender Tax Repeal Act of 1995, provides, (b) No business
establishment of any kind whatsoever may discriminate, with respect to
the price charged for services of similar or like kind, against a person
because of the person’s gender. "Civil Code section 52 provides the remedies for violations of sections 51, 51.5, and 51.6. Whoever denies, aids or incites a denial, or makes any discrimination or distinction contrary to Section 51, 51.5, or 51.6, is liable for each and every offense for the actual damages, and any amount that may be determined by a jury, or a court sitting without a jury, up to a maximum of three times the amount of actual damage but in no case less than four thousand dollars ($4,000), and any attorneys’ fees that may be determined by the court in addition thereto….
"Pursuant to Civil
Code section 52, ANA and any business that “aids” in any sex
discrimination, such as Los Angeles World Airports and San Francisco
International Airport, is liable for the actual damages and a minimum of
$4,000 in mandatory statutory damages for each and every offense
committed against all male passengers who were denied access to the
women-only bathrooms on ANA flights to and from California. In addition,
because California has such a strong public policy to eradicate sex
discrimination, prevailing plaintiffs – and only prevailing plaintiffs –
are entitled to their attorneys’ fees for any litigation concerning
violations of the above Civil Code sections. See Engel v.
"Furthermore, the
California Supreme Court’s recent Unruh Act opinion, North Coast Women’s
Care Center v. San Diego Superior Court (2008) 44 Cal.4th 1145, held
“liability under the act for denying a person the full and equal
accommodations, advantages, facilities, privileges, or services of a
business establishment (§51, subd. (b)) extends beyond the business
establishment itself to the business establishment’s employees
responsible for the discriminatory conduct.” Therefore, principals or
employees of ANA and the The California Attorney General remains diligent in eradicating business practices that discriminate against consumers based on sex. For example, in response to the proliferation of ladies-only poker tournaments at California’s licensed card rooms, the Attorney General issued a January 18, 2008 Gambling Establishment Advisory, which reads, in part:
Under the Unruh
Civil Rights Act (Civil Code sections 51 and 51.5), businesses may not
discriminate in admittance, prices, or services offered to customers
based on the customers’ sex, race, color, religion, ancestry, national
origin, disability, medical condition, marital status, or sexual
orientation. “Ladies only” tournaments or any other promotional events
that fail to admit men and women to advertised activities on an equal
basis regardless of sex are unlawful. It may also be unlawful under the
Unruh Act to advertise tournaments as “ladies only” even if men are in
fact admitted.
The National
Coalition For Men (NCFM) is the oldest men’s rights organization in |
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