In December of 2010, the Chinatown Redline sports bar in Washington DC had to pay a total amount of $687,000 in lawsuit fines. The reason: racial discrimination.

Hardin, a communication student at Howard University, filed the lawsuit because, as testifying witnesses explained, “that he [the store owner] wanted to hire white chicks who are blonde or girls.”

She hadn’t even worked a full hour before being let go by the establishment. It was only enough time for the management to make judgements based off of appearance.

One of the significant factors of the case is the soil where the discrimination took place. It happened in the country’s capital where the policies against discrimination were made. And where the management of Redline Sport’s bar made discriminatory decisions for its employment, and counted Hardin’s skin color as not within the sports bar’s prerogative.

This was not the first time the bar has discriminated and racially profiled. They have done this to both the employee’s who serve the customers, and the customers themselves.

One person filed a complaint at the trial about an incident where the bar closed early because of the apparel of customers. They were wearing baggy clothes, and had a “gangish” appearance. The bar had also used a system to weed out unwanted customers by using a fake guest list.

In the end, the lawsuit amounted to a total of $687,000, all of which was awarded to Hardin. $175,000 for compensatory damage, $510,000 in punitive damages from the federal civil rights, and $2,000 in punitive damages for the District’s Human Rights Act. The irony is that the Civil Rights Act of 1964 was passed only a few blocks away, and in the trial helped award Hardin for the discrimination she faced back in 2010.

Despite these huge payments, the sports bar was still able to stay in business. And after the trial, the management at Redline Sports Bar hired African American bartenders and bartenders of other ethnicity.

Sources:

http://naturallymoi.com/2016/01/dc-bar-that-fired-howard-univ-student-on-first-day-for-not-being-white-and-blonde-must-pay-687000/?utm_source=ReviveOldPost&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=ReviveOldPost

DC bar that fired student for not being “white” and “blonde” must pay $687,000

http://www.nbcwashington.com/news/local/Chinatown-Bar-Redline-Ordered-to-Pay-687K-in-Racial-Discrimination-Lawsuit-366740681.html