The State - News from Aug. 14, 1987

A sex discrimination lawsuit filed against a laundry alleges that it charges women more to clean their shirts than it does men. The San Francisco district attorney’s office filed suit in Superior court against Visitacion Valley Laundry seeking a preliminary injunction barring the company fromcharging $1 more to clean a woman’s shirt, even if it’s the same style and fabric as a man’s. The laundry, which services 21 Bay Area retail outlets, told investigators that men will not pay the high prices demanded of women, Assistant Dist. Atty. David Moon said. Manager Tony Gee, son of the laundry’s owner, said the price is based on how the shirt buttons. “You’re faced with a rather bizarre situation that because the buttons are on the left-hand side, a woman has to pay $2.10 for hand laundry and a man (whose shirt buttons on the right side) pays $1.10,” Moon said.