Black ACLU lawyers claim karaoke bar discriminated against them

Two black American Civil Liberties Union lawyers who claim they were bullied by staffers of a California karaoke bar because of their race have sent a complaint to a California civil rights agency.

The lawyers, Abre Conner and Novella Coleman, provided Paste BN with documentation showing they sent a pre-complaint inquiry via overnight mail on Monday to the California Department of Fair Employment and Housing, which handles complaints alleging unlawful discrimination in employment, housing and public accommodations and from hate violence.

The attorneys allege that the Brig, a bar in Fresno, enforced a drinking rule on they alone and not to other customers, would not let them sing karaoke and, ultimately, physically bumped one of them as they told the group to get out.

"It was a shocking and humiliating occurrence and being someone who helps fight for other people's civil rights, it just reminded me that if there is a situation where racial discrimination is happening, that we also must stand up for what we believe is right," Conner, 28, told Paste BN.

She and Coleman are civil rights attorneys with the American Civil Liberties Union of Northern California, a branch of the ACLU. They are being represented by the legal director of their office.

"Our goal is to let businesses like this bar know that they can't discriminate," Conner said.

The California Department of Fair Employment and Housing, reached Monday, said it does not comment on cases or confirm whether it has received paperwork.

A woman who answered the telephone at The Brig Monday said that manager Heidi Wilson was not available and would not be available until Tuesday. The woman said she could not speak for the bar and would not give out the name of the bar's lawyer, or say if the bar had a lawyer.

Back in March, when the alleged incident took place, Wilson told The Huffington Post that race was not an issue in asking the women to leave.

"It's not a racial thing whatsoever - that is 100% false," the news organization quotes Wilson as saying. "It's because they were loitering and didn't purchase anything."

The case dates back to March 12.

According to Conner, she and Coleman had been practicing the TLC song "Waterfalls" and wanted to try their skills at a karaoke bar. Conner did some searching on the Internet and discovered The Brig offered karaoke on Saturdays, she told Paste BN in a telephone interview.

The two women went with a third friend, a man, who is not black, according to their legal documentation.

The group arrived at the bar Saturday night and put their name on the list to sing karaoke, then waited more than half an hour, and asked an employee why they were not called, according to their legal documentation. The employee told them they had to buy drinks and their male friend bought a drink, and then another, but still they were not called, according to the legal inquiry. The male friend asked the disc jockey why they were not called and the group noticed that there were other people - none black - around the bar who were not drinking, according to the documentation. The bartender and another employee came to the group's table, told them The Brig was not a "hang out" place and that they were loitering, the legal papers read. The bartender bumped Conner with his chest and stomach and told the group they had to leave, according to the documentation. When Conner pointed out that California law bars establishments from refusing to serve people based on race, the bartender called the police, according to the papers.

In video provided to Paste BN, police have a lengthy, peaceful discussion with the trio but say the bar has the right not to serve who it does not want to serve, and sees the group out.

Other customers tried to buy the two women drinks but, they told the two women, the bartender would not take their money, Conner said.

The California agency must first investigate, then decide if it wants to file a discrimination complaint against the bar, said Christine Sun, legal director of the ACLU of Northern California.

"What we're seeking is a finding that the discrimination happened and some sort of order barring the bar from ever engaging in this type of discrimination again," Sun said.

According to The Leadership Conference, a civil and human rights coalition based in Washington, "discrimination in public accommodations has weakened but not disappeared."