Motorcycle Club Sues Bar Over Dress Code

Claiming their civil rights were violated, members of a motorcycle club filed a lawsuit against an Anaheim bar Monday because the bar has a dress code that prohibits “motorcycle attire.”

The motorcycle club, Vagos Southern California, and 19 of its members claim in the lawsuit that the Loose Moose Saloon, at 8901 Katella Ave., violated the Unruh Civil Rights Act, which prohibits arbitrary discrimination by a business.

David Koontz, the owner of the bar, which is part of a Nevada-based corporation, said Monday that the lawsuit “has taken me by surprise, so I would rather not say anything about it.”

Since early 1991, the bar violated the civil rights of Vagos members by “denying them entry . . . by displaying a large sign at the saloon stating, ‘No motorcycle attire allowed,’ ” the lawsuit stated.

Employees at the saloon have also told the bikers that they were not allowed into the bar if they continued to wear their “colors” or club garb, the lawsuit said.

Even though the bar removed the sign after a Vagos attorney wrote the owner a letter asking him to do so, the saloon still did not allow members of Vagos into the business “on the basis of their attire,” the lawsuit said.

The lawsuit, which was filed in Orange County Superior Court, seeks unspecified damages and asks that the Loose Moose be ordered to drop its dress code and serve all customers, regardless of their fashion sense.