Saturday 19 May 2012

MP900178844

Noise Prompts Monroeville Restaurant To Ban Kids Under Six

WTAE out of Pittsburgh is reporting on a local restaurant closing its doors to patrons under six. In an e-mail to loyal patrons Mike Vuick, owner of McDain’s Restaurant, wrote, “Beginning July 16, 2011, McDain’s Restaurant will no longer admit children under six years of age. We feel that McDain’s is not a place for young children. Their volume can’t be controlled and many, many times, they have disturbed other customers.”

Restaurants can refuse service to a limited degree. We’ve often seen the sign “We Reserve the Right to Refuse Service to Anyone” but few have perhaps taken it seriously. The sign is true more or less. Under the Civil Rights Act of 1964 restaurants, however, cannot refuse service on the basis of race, color, religion, or natural origin. Some courts extend this to refusals based on “arbitrary conditions” like having a lazy eye or a limp. Restaurants also are considered places of public accommodation and thus cannot violate equal protection laws, which include both federal and state protected classes. This would mean that McDain’s cannot refuse on the basis of age for those 40+. Sorry kiddos but your young age doesn’t put you in a protected class!

In addition to young age there are a number of legitimate reasons for restaurants to refuse service. Those include:

  • Patrons who are causing trouble
  • Patrons that may overfill capacity if allowed in
  • Patrons who come in just before closing time or when the kitchen is closed
  • Patrons accompanied by large groups of non-customers looking to sit in
  • Patrons lacking adequate hygiene (e.g. no shirt, no shoes.)

McDain’s may not be a big fan with local parents, but what he is doing is legal. Restaurants should be cautious in deciding who to refuse service to and be clear in articulating the reasoning.

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