Bias Suits Hit Magic Mountain

Noah Jackson, 12, raced ahead of his cousin to get a better place in line for Six Flags Magic Mountain’s Sierra Falls water attraction last summer. He wanted to ride solo, like everyone else.

But according to a lawsuit, when it was Noah’s turn, the park attendant tapped Noah’s cousin, who was farther back, and made the youngsters squeeze onto a raft made for one.

“They did not even give us a choice,” said the cousin, Devonne Brown, now 16, of Palmdale. “They told us to get on the raft [together] or go away.”

Devonne contends that he and Noah were treated differently “because of our skin color.” They are black.

In an interview, Noah’s father, Edward Jackson, 36, of Hesperia, said he was quickly branded a troublemaker when he tried to get an explanation. He and the boys were escorted out of the Valencia amusement park by half a dozen security guards who videotaped them from the ride to the parking lot.

“Everything was fine until we got to this one ride--it was our worst nightmare,” said Jackson, a union steward for the U.S. Postal Service in Redlands. “It just wasn’t right the way they treated us.”

Magic Mountain spokesman Andy Gallardo, however, said, “Our security measures do not use race in any way, shape or form.” He declined to comment on the Jackson family’s allegations.

Those allegations are among dozens of racial discrimination claims against Six Flags Magic Mountain in at least four lawsuits filed this summer in Los Angeles County Superior Court. One lawsuit has about 30 plaintiffs, each with his own allegation of discrimination.

The suits allege that African Americans and Latinos are unfairly targeted by Magic Mountain security guards and forced to leave the park for no reason except their appearance--in violation of the state’s Unruh Civil Rights Act, which governs public accommodations.

“They cannot pick and choose who’s a troublemaker based on race,” said Van Nuys attorney Kenneth M. Lipton, who represents Jackson and his family.

Venice attorney Paul L. Hoffman, who filed two of the suits, said the U.S. Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division is looking into the allegations. A spokesman for the Justice Department would not confirm or deny that such an inquiry exists.

No Discriminatory Policy, Spokesman Says

Gallardo declined to comment on any of the lawsuits but defended the park. “Any accusation that Six Flags has a discriminatory admissions policy is ridiculous and without merit,” he said.

He said protecting the park’s millions of visitors is a top priority. “Their safety and security are our No. 1 responsibility, and we are going to take that responsibility very seriously,” he said.

In other instances, the lawsuits allege, Magic Mountain security guards have searched people in the parking lot and asked them to leave. Others are forced out after paying their admission fee and walking through a metal detector without incident but before they have taken their first ride. Still others, like Jackson, are asked to leave once they are inside the park.

The targeted patrons typically are accused by park security of being gang members, which the plaintiffs deny, their attorneys said.

“The actual practice is to discriminate on a fairly widespread basis . . . that falls vastly disproportionately on minority patrons,” Hoffman said.

Those ejected from the amusement park--and those accompanying them--lost their $42.99 admission and $7 parking fees, the lawsuits say.

Hoffman said his office has received more calls in recent weeks from a variety of minorities who said they were discriminated against at Magic Mountain. They represent a wide range of ages, professions and physical appearances, he said.

The plaintiffs’ attorneys are asking a judge to certify their claims as a class action so they can seek a broad resolution on behalf of all minority visitors to the park. A hearing is set for later this month.

“This is not about money,” Lipton said. “We want new policies and guidelines put into effect.”

Magic Mountain has had to defend itself against such accusations before. More than a decade ago, the American Civil Liberties Union of Southern California filed four lawsuits against the park for racial discrimination and won a settlement in 1989.

At that time, a park spokeswoman said Magic Mountain agreed to slightly revise its screening guidelines and paid the 10 plaintiffs amounts ranging from $250 to $500. She said the small settlement amount and the minor revisions showed that the suit was more about the park’s security procedures than about racial discrimination.

“I think that the lawsuits we brought really underscore why a class action is needed,” said Carol A. Sobel, a former ACLU attorney. “There is a persistent, endemic problem at Magic Mountain. A court has to protect the rights of minorities entering” the park.

Magic Mountain adopted strict screening guidelines after a 1985 knife fight at the park involving three San Fernando Valley gangs. Six people were stabbed and 21 others arrested.

The allegations against the park go beyond its security and screening processes. Last year, a computer engineer said Magic Mountain sold him a personalized videotape on which could be heard racially derogatory remarks aimed at the African American visitor.

Dispute Over Racist Comments on Tape

At the park, Thurman Brown bought a videotape that Magic Mountain employees made of him on the Dive Devil, a bungee-jump ride. When he got home, he said, he played the tape and heard the offensive comments in the background. He sued the park.

“The park is so saturated with this type of racist behavior . . . that it showed up on this videotape,” said Century City attorney Robert S. Weinstein, who represents Thurman Brown and other plaintiffs in one of the suits. “It all has a common thread. It all appears to be coming from the very top.”

But park spokesman Gallardo said the tape is inconclusive. “There is no way to know whose voice is on the tape,” he said, noting that it was recorded “in front of hundreds of guests.”

He said the park does not tolerate such behavior from employees. If an employee were caught, he said, “the employee in question would be terminated on the spot.”

A jury trial in the case is scheduled Aug. 29 before Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Helen Bendix.