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An African-American fraternity in Tuscaloosa, Alabama has sued the Cyrpress Inc restaurant for alleged racial discrimination.
The Kappa Alpha Psi fraternity claims that they were the subject of two counts of racial discrimination after being denied from renting Cypress Inns’ pavilion.
The complaint, which was filed on June 27, 2018, states the fraternity was not provided the same services as similarly provided to white customers.
In the suit, Kappa Alpha Psi is requesting compensatory damages, punitive damages and for a judge to impose permanent injunctions barring Cypress Inn from engaging “in illegal discriminatory conduct.”
via AL.com:
According to the complaint, the Kappas attempted to rent the Cypress Inn’s Annex Pavilion around Dec. 15, 2017, for a social event planned for Feb. 23, 2018. The fraternity paid a $1,500 reservation fee to book the venue.
A representative of the fraternity met with one of Cypress Inn’s employees on Feb. 6, 2018, to solidify plans for the event when the student was told the group could not rent the facility. The complaint states the Cypress Inn representative said they were not aware the Kappas were an “all black group.”
Cypress Inn cited insufficient security personnel as a reason for not proceeding with the event, the lawsuit states. According to the complaint, the fraternity offered to provide security at their own expense, provided proof of insurance, offered the option of a security waiver and provided photos of past events and was met with a refusal to rent.
The fraternity’s reservation fee was refunded.
Furthermore, Kappa Alpha Psi’s lawsuit states that the owner of Cypress Inn stated that the restaurant had encountered problems with their “kind” in the past. Whether the owner meant fraternities or African Americans has yet to be proved.
