Discrimination by a Business

State and Federal civil rights laws prohibit places of public accommodation from discriminating against people based on race, color, religion, national origin, ancestry, sex, or disability.

Missouri, Illinois, and Federal laws each define “place of public accommodation” differently, but generally place of public accommodation means a business that sells goods or services to the general public. Hotels, restaurants, grocery stores, gas stations, movie theaters, sports arenas, airlines, public parks, and government offices are all examples of places of public accommodation.

Places of public accommodation should be available to the public. Discrimination occurs when a person is denied access or service in one of these places based on their race, color, religion, national origin, ancestry, sex, or disability.

What does public accommodation discrimination look like?

Discrimination takes many forms; sometimes it is obvious, other times it is more covert. Here are some examples of what public accommodation discrimination can look like.

Race and Skin Color

A server in a restaurant continues to ignore a table of mostly Black diners. The server waits on all the other tables and checks back several times before even greeting the diners. The diners flag down the manager to tell her they are being ignored and ask for help getting service, but the manager angrily tells the diners to stop complaining or leave.

Being given inferior service because of your race/skin color is illegal discrimination.

Religion

A Muslim woman wearing hijab tries to buy movie tickets for her family at the theater box office, but the teller says that the showing is sold out. After the woman walks away from the box office, the teller sells the next customer tickets for the supposedly sold-out showing.

Being denied service because of your religion is illegal discrimination.

National Origin and Ancestry

You check in with the secretary at Urgent Care, and then wait for several hours without being seen by a doctor. The staff keeps calling patients who checked in later and have less severe symptoms. The other patients are Caucasian and speak English fluently. However, you are from Spain and still learning English.

Being denied service because of your national origin is illegal discrimination.

Sex and Gender

A city’s parks and recreation department will not allow same-sex parents to register their children for the city's summer camp program.

Being denied participation in public programs because of your sex is illegal discrimination.

Disability

Customers of a fast food restaurant use touch screen kiosks to place their orders, but you are legally blind and can’t see the options on the touch screen. When you ask an employee to take your order at the counter she respond that company policy is to only accept orders made from the kiosks.

Failing to provide a reasonable accommodation to enable a person with a disability to access the business's goods or services is illegal discrimination.

Have you been subjected to discrimination?

The attorneys at Beck & Grant protect the rights of people who have been denied access or refused service by businesses open to the public. If you believe a place of public accommodation discriminated against you because of your race, color, religion, national origin, ancestry, sex, or disability, we may be able to help. Click here for a free case evaluation.