7E - Article: Anti-discrimination Issue: Ladies 'Night~~~a~o~o Anti-discriminaton
Issue: Ladies 'Night
Agenda Item vII - E
The Daily Camera. City Of Boulder
The Daily Camera
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Ladies' night: Promotion vs, favoritism
New Jersey ruling resembles Boulder debate of 1980s
By Elizabeth Mattern Clark, Camera Staif Writer
Iune 4, 2004
Richard Savino was fed up with bars offering half-priced drinks to women only.
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The Boulder man took his male-discrimination complaint to the city, and human rights officer Kon Damas decided in his favor
Ladies' mghts were a vwlahon of the city's aMi-discrimmation ordinance
That was in 1984
"It was obvious on the face of it," Damas recalled Thursday "When you charge someone a different
price for no other reason than gender, it looks like gender discrimination "
Boulder officials said Damas' decision - one that landed Savino on national television, pitted against
the owner of the La Paz bar on the then-popular Phil Donahue show - still stands It was backed up
on appeal by the city's Human Relations Commission and wasn't taken to court, officials sa~d
But the ruling has gone unnoticed in recent years because no one has been complaining
"I think it ~ust sort of died down," said Damas, who now runs the city's community mediation service
A man in New Jersey did complam, though That state's top crvii ngMs official this week decided m
his favor, banning ladies' nights New Jersey's governor criticized the ruling as "bureaucratic
nonsense"
Judges in Pennsylvania and lowa also have ruled against female-only discounts, although courts in
Illinois and Washington have said ladies' nights are permissible because they encourage women to
attend rather than discriminate agamst men
Twenty years atter Damas' ruling, 9ender-based promotions have once again become commonplace
on the Boulder nightclub scene But the city won't take action against bars for male discrimination
unless someone complains again, said Richard Johnson, director of Boulder's community services
"We can't go out looking tor cases," he said "The human rights ordinance is complaint•drroen "
Ladies' nights haven't been ruled on at the state level in Colorado, Johnson said
'Paying males will follow'
Alexa Cares, 21, of Boulder sa~d she'd preter that there were more ladies' nights in town
"I don't think they're that well-advertised," she said "We'd plan the whole night around them it we
knew about them "
Lauren Bucquet, 21, said there's nothing wrong with drink discounts aimed at women "as long as you
Atlverdsemant know what you're gelling into "
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The Daily Camera: City Of Boulder
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But Damas said he read this week about the New Jersey ban and thought to himself "Cool "
In the 1980s, he said, part of the argument in detense of gender-based discounts was that they
would help women who didn't earn as much money as men, including cash-strapped single mothers
"To that, we suggested they ~ust give discounts based on income," Damas said "But it was so clear
what they were trying to do, Get the women in, and paying males will follow "
Foot tratfic is exactly what iPs about, said Kevin Macha, assistant general manager for the Walrus
Saloon, which sells $1 and $1 50 well drinks at ladies' nights every Thursday The Walrus's irequent
ad asks in large print "Lose something~" and features a picture of a crumpled, silky pair of women's
underwear
Macha said men may simply ask women to buy drinks for them and take advantage ot the ladies'-
night discounts
"Ii they're smart enough to figure out the loophole, more power to them," he said.
He said he wasn't aware of the 1984 ruling - but he hasn't heard a complaint from a customer about
ladies' nights since he began at the bar in 1999
'9t's ~ust an eye-catcher to get people into the bar," he said "If we say iPs ladies' night, ladies see that
as a way to spend a little less, and if a whole bunch of lad~es are in the bar, ihe guys are going to
follow Our drinks are always cheap, so it's not like we're trying to discriminate "
'Responsible hospitality'
Regina Cowles, president ot the 8oulder chapter of the National Organization for Women, said the
propriety of ladies' nights is something she hasn't ihought about in years, since reverse-discrimination
cases began cropping up in response to the teminist movement
"Ladies' nights are sexist - there's no question about it - because they ob~ectify women," she said.
"But even within NOW, we've had discussions about ~t over the years and haven't drawn a definite
conclusion "
Because women tend to earn less money than men, she said, some say discounts are appropriate
"But it seems to me we should be beyond the point where we allow ourselves to be used in that way,"
she said "Women should ~ust be aware that they are being used in a way that is not for their own
beneht."
Ladies' nights - and happy hours in general - have long been a concern for Bob Maust, chairman of the Stand~ng
Committee on Substance Abuse at the University of Colorado He said they "encourage uresponsible use of the drug alcohol "
"Ladies' nights are a cultural norm that is discounting women's health and safety, and people are making money on it," he
said
Maust said dozens of local establishments that are part of the Responsible Hospitality Group have voluntarily adopted ruies
including a ban on ladies' nights
"I can't speak for the group, but we don't have ladies' nights here," said Todd Ma~oris, dining and marketing manager for the
Sink, a member ot the Responsible Hospitality Group "We've ~ust left it open to both genders When you're serving alcohol,
iYs a huge liability, and it ~ust comes back to being respons~ble "
The Assoc~afed Press contnbuted to th~s report
Contact Camera Staff Wr~ter EI¢abeth Mattern Clark at (303) 473-1351 or clarke~datlycamera com
Copyright 2004, The Daily Camera All Rights Reserved
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