Club Owner to Apologize to Asians Denied Entry
The owner of a Hollywood dance club has agreed to apologize to a group of Asian college students who allege that they were denied entry to the establishment on several occasions because of their race, their attorney said Thursday.
The owner of the Florentine Gardens also agreed to post the club’s policy against discrimination, advise employees not to deny entry to patrons in a discriminatory manner, and maintain a log listing all patrons denied admission and the reasons behind any denial, said Robin Toma, a lawyer for the American Civil Liberties Union.
The nightclub’s lawyer, Robert De Piano, said the students should not have been excluded on the basis of their race and said it was not the club’s policy, but an error by an employee.
The students, most of them from Occidental College, had threatened to sue the club, alleging that they were denied admission in late 1989 and early this year simply because they are Asian.
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