Wednesday, October 27, 2010

Articles | Power & Light District dress code draws lawsuit Midwest Democracy Project

Articles Power & Light District dress code draws lawsuit Midwest Democracy Project

The Midwest Democracy Project





Power & Light District dress code draws lawsuit


The Kansas City Star

A group of four African-American men has filed a lawsuit in federal court alleging discrimination in the dress code at the Power & Light downtown entertainment district.
The lawsuit, which seeks at least $20 million in punitive damages, was filed on behalf of the class of African-American males subjected to the district’s dress code enforcement.
The named plaintiffs are Kirk Proctor, Jerome Porter, Rob Jackson and Marcus McMiller, who all reside in the metro area. They are suing the Cordish Cos.; Entertainment Concepts Investors, a Cordish affiliate; and the Maker’s Mark bar and lounge.
Maker’s Mark officials referred calls to Cordish representatives, who could not be reached Tuesday night for comment. In the past, Cordish officials have denied any racial discrimination in enforcement of the district’s dress code.
The dress code has resulted in at least one other lawsuit and numerous other complaints by minorities saying they were unfairly excluded from the district’s venues.
Kansas City human relations officials announced in May that Cordish had quietly relaxed some of its dress code provisions and had taken other steps to address claims of unfair treatment against African-American patrons.
According to the complaint, Jackson, Porter and Proctor arrived at the KC Live block of the district for a party on Aug. 29, 2009. The petition says they were casually dressed, in attire that did not violate the published dress code.
They were allowed to enter the KC Live area but were denied entry to the Maker’s Mark bar, with a security agent saying Proctor’s shirt was too long and Porter’s and Jackson’s clothing was too baggy.
The lawsuit says the men were not wearing baggy clothes, but they saw white patrons who were dressed in similar fashion and were not denied entry or asked to leave.
The lawsuit also says McMiller visited the KC Live block with his wife on Sept. 23, 2008. He too was denied entry, while whites wearing similar attire were allowed in.

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