TEXAS
The Justice Department reached a settlement today resolving allegations that Kung Fu Saloon Restaurant and Bar discriminated against Blacks and Asian-Americans patrons by denying them admission at area locations, which are in Dallas Houston and Austin, according to authorities.
The settlement requires Kung Fu Saloon to make changes to stop the discrimination, officials said.
“Places of public accommodations, such as bars and restaurants like Kung Fu Saloon, should be open to all persons, regardless of race or national origin,” said Deputy Assistant Attorney General Vanita Gupta of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division.
The Justice Department’s complaint alleges that the defendants – Routh Guys LLC doing business as Kung Fu Saloon; Washington Guys LLC doing business as Kung Fu Saloon; and Grand Guys LLC doing business as Kung Fu Saloon – violated Title II of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 by engaging in a pattern or practice of discrimination against African-American and Asian-American patrons because of their race, color and national origin.
Specifically, the suit alleges that in dozens of instances, the defendants denied African-American patrons entry into Kung Fu Saloon locations based on a dress code when similarly dressed white patrons were permitted to enter.
The complaint also alleged that the defendants engaged in other practices to limit the number of African-American and Asian-American patrons at Kung Fu Saloon’s locations.
The consent decree submitted to the court today will resolve this matter.
The terms of the decree require the defendants to comply with federal law:
- By not discriminating against patrons on the basis of race, color or national origin
- Post and enforce a non-discriminatory dress code policy
- Implement a system for receiving and investigating complaints of discrimination
- Conduct monitoring to ensure that Kung Fu Saloon’s employees are acting in a non-discriminatory manner consistent with federal law.
“This settlement resolves serious allegations of racial and national origin discrimination at Kung Fu Saloon locations in Texas, and it should make clear that any illegal discrimination in places of public accommodations will not be tolerated,” said Acting U.S. Attorney John R. Parker of the Northern District of Texas.
“And a number of members of the City Council did the right thing by making a big deal out of the allegations.
It was a moment when black, white and Hispanic council members joined together, dropped by the Kung Fu and essentially said, whatever happened here, we don’t accept discrimination in this town,” Wrote Randolph Bush in an opinion piece in the Dallas Morning News in February.
“It was done in a light-hearted way, but the message was clear to all of us. Dallas is a city that needs to embrace its diversity, whether it is around the council horseshoe or in a Routh Street bar,” Bush wrote.