Refusing Service To S*x Offenders

In California is it legal to refuse service to a registered s*x offender in a family oriented restaurant?

Hi CA Biz,

In California, restaurants are covered under the Unruh Civil Rights Act, which was passed in the 1960s and has been interpreted by the California Courts to provide broad protection from arbitrary discrimination by business owners, such as restaurant owners. This act is supposed to protect against all types of arbitrary discrimination. However, the courts have used a balancing test in the past to determine whether or not a discriminatory rule violated this Act. The test looks to three areas: 1) the statute's language; 2) the legitimate business interest of the Defendant (in this case the restaurant), and 3) the consequences of allowing the new discrimination claim.

In your situation, if you were to refuse service to a registered s*x offender, you would have to have a legitimate business reason for doing so. As an example, in one case, a bar refused service to any member of a motorcycle club who did not first remove their "colors" (which showed membership to a certain club or another) before entering the bar. This was challenged in court. There, the court ruled that discriminating against these individuals was okay because the bar had a legitimate business interest in fights not breaking out between rival club members who displayed their colors.

Hope this helps.

This is an informative article on point: Restaurants: Right to Refuse Service Lawyers

It depends also if there is a conflict with the state statute about how close a registered *** offender can be to children. You allowed a "family oriented" restuarant, but state laws vary on how close the *** offender can be to children, and clearly outlines where they can go and cannot go. I don't believe a restaurant is a restricted area, because it is a public area, so you need to research the statute in your state that applies to *** offenders before you go any further. You would not want to be a subject of a lawsuit by discriminating against a "*** offender" and refusing service when his reason for being there is to be served a meal, which is your business. Good luck