The Victor in ‘Ladies’ Night’ Suit--’It’s the Principle’

Dennis Koire is a happy man today. He believed bars and car washes and other businesses were discriminating against him because he is a man. They were giving women price discounts, but saying no to him.

Koire went to court, not once but several times, and on Thursday he got what he was looking for--a ruling from the California Supreme Court that price breaks based on sex are discriminatory and illegal.

Koire, now a 25-year-old store clerk, got mad seven years ago when a club with a no-males-under-21 rule stopped him at the door (he was 18 at the time) but let his 19-year-old girlfriend in.

“They were using the women for bait,” he said in a telephone interview. “The more girls, the more guys (attracted to the bar) over 21. They have no use for guys under 21, because they don’t buy drinks.”

It wasn’t the age requirement that angered Koire, but the discrimination against males. And he was equally annoyed by “ladies-only” discounts at car washes.

“They were doing it there too,” he said. “Some were very rude about it.”

‘It’s the Principle’

Koire found a lawyer to take his case and wait out the long legal process.

“It’s the principle,” he explained. “People say there’s more important things in the world to worry about, but there isn’t. All the little things add up to one big thing. And I guess I did something about it.”

The state Alcoholic Beverages Control Department has been enforcing its policy against sex-based discounts for some time.

“Historically, the problem has been ladies’ nights--all drinks for women 50 cents, or a cover charge for men and no cover charge for women,” said Carl Falletta, Los Angeles-based deputy district supervisor for the department.

Falletta said the department’s policy, dating back to at least 1977, has been to act against any bar or club that has “a program including a special inducement to ladies at reduced prices.”

He explained that department inspectors can enforce the law only after they receive a complaint. “We don’t have enough staff to curtail it at random,” he said.

Practice Persists

So the practice goes on. At the Comedy & Magic Club in Hermosa Beach, an employee who didn’t want to give her name said Thursday that they have a ladies’ night on Tuesdays when tickets for women are half the usual price, but that they have a men’s night on Wednesdays with the same discount. “Isn’t that fair?” she asked.

At the San Pedro Car Wash the reaction was about the same. Manager Nielson Lasse said women get a $4.75 wash and wax for $3.95 on Wednesdays, men the same discount on Tuesdays. “The idea is to get more business in the middle of the week,” he said. “We’ve been doing it that way for years and it seems fair.”

George Voigt, executive director of the San Marino-based California Car Wash Assn., thinks the whole question matters very little.

“I don’t see any significant effect on the car wash business,” he said Thursday. “Those doing it will have to stop, of course, but car washes are using a whole variety of promotions to attract customers--coupons, special discount days that don’t have anything to do with sex, and some have even started to give away lottery tickets.

No Hardship Foreseen

“Though I personally think the court’s decision is silly, I don’t see where it would create a hardship for us.”

Koire, although happy with his Supreme Court victory, is still a bit annoyed at businesses that aren’t playing fair with men.

“I went to a place (a bar) just last week with my girlfriend,” he said. “It was $1 for girls, $2 for guys to get in. You know what I said to the guy at the door? I said, ‘Goodby.’ And you know what he said to me? He said, ‘Sue me.’ I said, ‘Maybe I will.’ ”

Times staff writer Michael Seiler in Los Angeles contributed to this story.