The “Right” to Refuse Service

RefuseService

I came across an interesting sign (pictured) on my way to work this morning.

We’ve all seen signs stating (with some variation) that the business “reserves the right to refuse service to anyone”. While it sounds impressive to “reserve rights”, it’s helpful to understand what rights are being reserved. Can a business really refuse service to anyone they want, for any reason?

The answer is generally no, at least in New York City.

The New York City Human Rights Law provides, in pertinent part:

It shall be an unlawful discriminatory practice for any person, being the owner, lessee, proprietor, manager, superintendent, agent or employee of any place or provider of public accommodation because of the actual or perceived race, creed, color, national origin, age, gender, disability, marital status, partnership status, sexual orientation or alienage or citizenship status of any person directly or indirectly, to refuse, withhold from or deny to such person any of the accommodations, advantages, facilities or privileges thereof, or, directly or indirectly, to make any declaration, publish, circulate, issue, display, post or mail any written or printed communication, notice or advertisement, to the effect that any of the accommodations, advantages, facilities and privileges of any such place or provider shall be refused, withheld from or denied to any person on account of race, creed, color, national origin, age, gender, disability, marital status, partnership status, sexual orientation or alienage or citizenship status or that the patronage or custom of any person belonging to, purporting to be, or perceived to be, of any particular race, creed, color, national origin, age, gender, disability, marital status, partnership status, sexual orientation or alienage or citizenship status is unwelcome, objectionable or not acceptable, desired or solicited. (NYC Admin. Code § 8-107(4).) (Emphasis added.)

A couple of things bear noting.

First, the statute is limited to any “place or provider of public accommodation”, which it defines as including

providers, whether licensed or unlicensed, of goods, services, facilities, accommodations, advantages or privileges of any kind, and places, whether licensed or unlicensed, where goods, services, facilities, accommodations, advantages or privileges of any kind are extended, offered, sold or otherwise made available. Such term shall not include any club, which proves that it is in its nature distinctly private. (NYC Admin. Code § 8-102(9).)

Second, the statute prohibits certain activities undertaken “because of” or “on account of” various characteristics, such as race, age, gender, and sexual orientation.

The New York State Human Rights Law likewise prohibits discrimination in “any place of public accommodation, resort or amusement”, which is defined to include “inns”, “taverns”, and “wholesale and retail stores and establishments dealing with goods or services of any kind.”

Therefore, if the business (for example, the pictured bar) qualifies as a “place or provider of public accommodation” under City Law or a “place of public accommodation, resort or amusement” under State Law, it must take care not to exercise its “rights” in an unlawfully discriminatory manner.

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