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CHAPTER 3
Civil Rights and
Hospitality Businesses
CONTENTS
A. Chapter Competencies
B. Introduction
C. The Civil Rights Act of 1964
D. Enforcing the Act
E. Exempt Establishments
F. Extending Civil Rights Protection
G. Rights of Proprietors
H. Answers to Case Example
Questions
I. Answers to End-of-Chapter
Questions
Chapter Summary
Sadly, discrimination was a practice that was quite prevalent in the hospitality industry before the passage of the
Civil Rights Act of 1964. Today, many laws prohibit discrimination. The common law prohibits innkeepers from
refusing accommodations to anyone who seeks them, unless certain exceptions apply. The Civil Rights Act of
1964 prevents hotels, restaurants, and gas stations, and other places of entertainment engaged in interstate
commerce from refusing to provide services or accommodations on the basis of race, color, religion, or national
origin.
The Americans with Disabilities Act prohibits discrimination on the basis of disability and requires various
accommodations for handicapped patrons. State civil rights laws fill in the gaps by preventing discrimination
within the state in a large class of facilities on the grounds not just of race, color, religion, and national origin,
but also gender, marital status, disability, and in some locales, sexual orientation.
Students see in this chapter how the law can be used as a tool to deter discrimination and encourage hos-
pitality facilities to provide their services to all equally.
A. Chapter Competencies
After studying Chapter 3, the student should be able to
1. define “discrimination.”
2. list the two circumstances in which discrimination is manifested.
3. describe the history of civil rights laws and protections.
4. describe a “landmark decision.”
5. define “civil rights.”
6. state the intent and purpose of the Civil Rights Act (the “Act”).
7. describe the scope of the Act.
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8. define “interstate commerce.”
9. list the lodging facilities covered by the Act.
10. list the dining facilities covered by the Act.
11. list the places of entertainment covered by the Act.
12. describe the scope of the federal government’s powers.
13. list criteria qualifying interstate commerce for food and entertainment services.
14. list the remedies for violation of the Act.
15. describe what constitutes the violation of the Act in racial discrimination.
16. list actions not deemed to be considered discrimination and thus not protected by the Act.
17. describe the principle of “unitary rule.”
18. list the hospitality businesses exempt from the Act.
19. list the factors considered by the courts in classifing whether a club is private.
20. differentiate between the federal Civil Rights Act and state civil rights laws.
21. state the purpose of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) of 1991.
22. describe the scope of the ADA.
23. state the definition of “places of public accommodation” according to the ADA and discuss how it
is different from the Civil Rights Act of 1964.
24. describe the mandates of the ADA.
25. describe the modifications and limitations to modifications of rules and policies under the ADA.
26. describe the accommodations to disabled individuals under the ADA.
27. list the type of lawsuits that can be brought under the ADA for noncompliance.
28. describe the remedies for lawsuits under the ADA.
29. list the types of discriminations not outlawed under the Civil Rights Act.
30. describe the rights of properties under the Civil Rights Act.
31. explain “reasonable rules” of an establishment.
B. Introduction
❊Begin the session by asking the students what discrimination is. Make a list on the board or a flip
chart.
■Present the definition from the book.
■Discuss the two circumstances in which discrimination is primarily mandated. (Chapter 14
addresses discrimination in employment.)
❊Discuss the historical background of common law application and the circumstances that led to the
Civil Rights Act of 1964.
■Discuss the discriminatory practices in the 1950s and 1960s in the South.
■Note: Common-law rule did not apply to restaurants.
■Note: A landmark decision sets an important precedent, sometimes marking a turning point in
the interpretation of law.
C. The Civil Rights Act of 1964
❊Review the circumstances and backdrop of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (referred to as the Act in
the rest of the text).
❊Discuss what constitutes civil rights.
■Ask the students for some of the civil rights derived from the Constitution. Make a list on the
board or a flip chart.
❊The Civil Rights Act of 1964.
■Discuss the original scope of the Act.
■Discuss the situations and treatment of blacks in education, social institutions, transportation,
hotels, and restaurants until the Act was passed.
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■Explain the intent and purpose of the Act.
■Discuss the gaps (omissions) left in the Act.
•Explain that, to remedy these omissions, most states have passed their own laws extending
protection to groups and facilities not covered by the Act.
■Note: The Act set the stage for eventual desegregation and a new social order.
❊Scope of the Act.
■List the five factors which form the basis for the Act to outlaw discrimination.
■List the type of establishments covered by the Act.
•Stress that an establishment has to be engaged in interstate commerce.
•Discuss discrimination in terms of hospitality businesses.
•Stress the fact that a single act of illegal discrimination violates the Act; a pattern of discrimi-
natory conduct is not required.
■List and discuss the type of hospitality establishments within the four types of places where the
Act prohibits discrimination.
•Define “transients.” Transients are people passing through or by a place for only a brief stay
or sojourn.
■Ask the students to recall the definition of interstate commerce from the previous chapter.
•Explain the background of how the federal and state government jurisdiction powers were
established by the Constitution.
•Discuss the requirements that hotels, restaurants, and other food service establishments and
places of entertainment must satisfy in affecting interstate commerce.
•Although the Civil Rights Act does not provide a test for determining “substantial,” prece-
dents provide guidelines.
❊Relief.
■Discuss and explain the possible remedies under the Civil Rights Act and other anti-
discrimination laws.
•Injunctive relief: Explain that in civil rights cases, an injunction usually orders the offending
person or business to stop discriminating. It is a preventive measure that guards against future
injuries rather than affording a remedy for past injuries.
•Reasonable attorney’s fees: The reason for allowing attorney’s fees in cases involving civil rights
violations is the legislature’s recognition of the importance of eradicating discrimination. By
eliminating attorney’s fees as a deterrent for bringing a civil rights lawsuit, victims of discrim-
ination are more likely to pursue the wrongdoers.
D. Enforcing the Act
❊Discuss the two landmark cases in the text that helped establish jurisdiction of the Act.
■Discuss the arguments of the cases.
❊Racial discrimination.
■Emphasize the fact that refusing to permit anyone to enter an establishment because of race
constitutes a violation of the Act.
•Use the Louisiana case to reinforce the point.
■Using the Burger King case examples in the text, highlight the fact that case law also teaches that
the Civil Rights Act does not remedy all perceived wrongs. Instead, it protects only against
discriminatory denial of the right to enter a covered facility and receive service. Certain indignities
resulting from inferior service are not covered.
•Explain the point discussing the cases in the text.
■If a covered business is physically located within another facility not otherwise covered by the Act,
such as a snack bar in a store or a food car on a train, the food facility and the store or train are
both covered. Similarly, if a business not covered by the Act is located within a covered business,
both are subject to the Act’s provisions.
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E. Exempt Establishments
❊Explain the type of establishments exempt by the Civil Rights Act.
■The Act excludes from its coverage certain establishments, including bed-and-breakfast opera-
tions and private clubs. These businesses are not barred from discriminating by the Act.
■Explain the criteria for the exemption for B&Bs: “Mrs. Murphy’s boarding house clause.”
•Allows proprietors who admit transients into their home to retain discretion and control over
who sleeps in their house.
■Discuss the reasoning behind exceptions to the Act for “private clubs.”
•The Act’s ban on discrimination does not apply to “private clubs or other establishments not
in fact open to the public.”
•The law recognizes that people customarily affiliate with a private club because of a commu-
nity of interests among the membership; the Act supports the perpetuation of those shared
agendas.
•The Act does not clearly define what constitutes a private club, so the courts must interpret
the statute when the issue is raised.
■Use Case Example 3-1 to discuss “private-in-name only” clubs.
■Explain and discuss the selection and admission policies of private clubs mandated by the Act.
Use Case Example 3-2.
F. Extending Civil Rights Protection
❊The classes of people protected and the types of facilities covered are limited in the Civil Rights Act.
Other federal, state, and local laws help to fill in the gaps.
❊Discuss the extensions to civil rights by state civil rights laws.
■Virtually every state has a civil rights law that, in part, duplicates the Act and, in part, expands
its coverage.
■The scope of the state civil rights laws.
•Businesses that are purely intrastate in nature—that is, not involved in interstate commerce.
Remember, the Civil Rights Act of 1964 applies only to businesses engaged in interstate
commerce.
•Additional “places of public accommodation,” including bars, stores, clinics, hospitals, barber
and beauty shops, libraries, schools, colleges, public halls, public elevators, public institutions
for the care of neglected or delinquent children, garages, and public transportation.
•The protected classes in the Act are race, color, religion, and national origin. The state statutes
customarily expand the categories of protected classes and frequently include marital status
and disability. Some statutes and local government ordinances also outlaw discrimination on
the basis of sexual orientation.
•Many state statutes prohibit advertisements that contain statements or suggestions, whether
express or implied, that accommodations will be denied because of a protected characteristic,
such as race, religion, or gender.
■Remedies under the state civil rights laws.
•Under the federal Act, remedies were limited and included primarily injunctive relief and
attorney’s fees.
•Damages (money), meaning an establishment that wrongfully denies services may be liable to
pay money to the would-be patron.
•In addition, violation of many state civil rights laws is deemed a crime, which can result in jail
times and fines.
❊The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA).
■A federal law passed by Congress in 1991, which is a far-reaching commitment to the rights of
the disabled.
■Discuss the purpose of the ADA.
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■Discuss the definitions of “discrimination” and “places of public accommodation” in the
statute.
•The statute defines “discrimination” as including a failure to make reasonable modifications
in policies, practices, or procedures when such modifications are necessary to provide goods,
services, or accommodations to disabled people.
•The Disabilities Act’s definition of “places of public accommodation” is significantly broader
than the Civil Rights Act of 1964. In addition to the hotels, restaurants, places of entertain-
ment, and service stations covered by the latter Act, the Disabilities Act applies to bars, stores,
service establishments such as barber and beauty shops, laundromats, banks, public trans-
portation, and schools and colleges.
■Explain the concept of integrated settings.
■Discuss the mandates of the ADA and the rules about modifying facilities to accommodate the
disabled.
■Discuss the requirements concerning accessibility of facilities and structural modifications for ex-
isting buildings.
•Where removal of a barrier is readily achievable, failure to remove it constitutes illegal dis-
crimination. If, however, the removal of the barrier is not readily achievable, its continued
presence does not violate the Disabilities Act.
■Discuss the structural requirements during construction.
■Discuss the ADA requirements for businesses that offer transportation and telecommunication
services to their patrons.
■Discuss the legal actions directed to noncompliance with the ADA.
•Use the Pinnock v. International House of Pancakes case to further discuss the ADA.
❊Age discrimination.
■Explain that age is a classification not protected in places of public accommodation by the Civil
Rights Act or most state civil rights laws. Thus, it is normally not illegal to treat varying age
groups differently in such places.
❊Gender discrimination.
■Explain that although the Civil Rights Act does not protect women, under some circumstances
they can obtain redress for discrimination in places of public accommodation through the Four-
teenth Amendment to the Constitution.
■Supplementing the Constitution, virtually all states now have state statutes that prohibit dis-
crimination in places of public accommodation based on gender.
■Like the Civil Rights Act of 1964, most state civil rights acts exempt private clubs. As with the
Act, the issue arises whether an establishment is public or private.
■Gender discrimination in access to places of public accommodation is less prevalent today. Such
discrimination in employment is more widespread. While the federal Act does not protect against
gender discrimination in places of public accommodation, it does protect against gender dis-
crimination in employment.
G. Rights of Proprietors
■Hospitality proprietors can refuse service, deny access, and/or remove patrons under some cir-
cumstances and not violate the civil rights laws.
■Discrimination against some categories of people is not prohibited by law. For example, no law
offers protection against discrimination in places of public accommodation to people who are
dressed in jeans or males not wearing shirts.
■It is permissible to remove a disorderly person.
■Explain that the management of a service establishment, like any other business enterprise, must
have rules to maintain order and express the philosophy of its management. Often these rules
result in different treatment of different groups. If the rules are reasonable and do not result in
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illegal discrimination against protected classes, they are enforceable even though the result may
be that some people will be treated differently than others.
■In cases where a plaintiff sues a business and seeks service after the commencing lawsuit, the facility
is not obligated to accommodate the would-be patron. Retaliators are not a protected class.
■Patrons who enter the premises despite a warning not to may be guilty of criminal trespass. Even
if the patrons enter the premises lawfully, they may be guilty of trespass if they fail to obey a lawful
order to leave made by the owner or the owner’s designee. To commit this crime, patrons must
first be informed they are on the premises against the owner’s will.
H. Answers to Case Example Questions
3-1-1. What facts did the court consider to be most important in reaching its determination
that the plaintiff was not discriminated against based upon his race?
However unpleasant the plaintiff’s interactions with hotel staff on the night of his lockout might
have been, no reasonable juror properly instructed on the law could conclude that application of
a facility-neutral lock out policy, which requires that a guest be escorted to his room for identifi-
cation, as applied to the plaintiff on March 5, 2003, constituted an act of racial discrimination.
3-1-2. Do you agree with the decision? Why or why not?
Yes. The facts do not point to racial discrimination.
3-2-1. What can the Erlenbusches do legally to address the friction between the Anglo and
Chicano patrons?
The Erlenbusches can eliminate Rule 11, train employees to be more sensitive to foreign
nationals, consider hiring a security guard, and hiring Spanish-speaking employees.
The establishment could adopt house rules barring any type of discriminating conduct
and authorizing eviction of any customer who fails to comply. The bar might try to encour-
age interaction between the two groups by sponsoring events, games, or tournaments that re-
quire patrons to socialize.
3-3-1. Summarize the two separate grounds the court used to determine that Lake Nixon was
a place of public accommodation and thus covered by the Act.
The two bases for the court’s decision that Lake Nixon was engaged in interstate commerce
were the following: (1) The amusement park provided services to many customers from out
of state. Indeed, the owners sought the patronage of travelers. They advertised in a magazine
distributed to guests in nearby hotels, motels, and restaurants on the radio and in at least one
newspaper. These types of advertising are calculated to attract people from all over. The snack
bar, a type of establishment covered by the Act if engaged in interstate commerce, thus likely
served many residents of other states and so was within the Act’s coverage. Since the snack bar
was covered, the amusement park would be likewise, based on the unitary rule. (2) A sub-
stantial portion of the food served at the amusement park’s snack bar was imported from other
states. Three of the four food items sold contained ingredients originating outside of Arkansas.
3-3-2. Can you think of any business within the hospitality/entertainment industry that is not
covered by the Civil Rights Act?
Virtually every hotel and restaurant would be covered by the Act. Hotels cater exclusively to
travelers. Restaurants vie for travelers’ business. A hotel or restaurant that did not solicit and
encourage out-of-state business would be overlooking a significant client base. Also, few states
produce a substantial portion of the food products offered by a restaurant, so most food
establishments import a significant portion of the food they serve.
3-4-1. What would the club need to do differently to qualify as a private club?
To qualify as a private club, it would need to limit the number of members it accepts, adopt
objective and truly selective criteria for membership, obtain adequate information about each
applicant to make an informed decision whether he or she qualifies, and measure each poten-
tial member against membership criteria.
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