Denied Service at a Restaurant Due to a Relative's Actions
Last night we made a reservation online to eat at a restaurant we've enjoyed in the past. When we arrived, we were approached by a manager asking if we were related to a particular person, as our last names are the same. We asked why they were asking, and we were informed that the person they were asking about had filed a lawsuit against the owner of their sister restaurant and that they couldn't serve us. Can they do this? We had no knowledge of the lawsuit, and the person they connected us to is an adult child who doesn't live with us and hasn't for 10 years. We have nothing to do with this lawsuit and don't even know what the circumstances are. This really caught us off-guard and embarrassed us.
Re: Denied Service at a Restaurant
You did not specify where this occurred. However, assuming that it was in the U.S., the general rule is that a business may deny you service for any reason other than illegal discrimination. Under federal law that means the business cannot discriminate against you because of your race, color, religion, national origin or disability. A number of states have laws that add other protected characteristics like sex, sexual orientation, and age. See this helpful chart for what each state's public accommodation anti-discrimination laws cover. But no state prohibits a business from denying you service because some relative of yours is suing a related business, even if you haven't had anything to do with that relative for years.
Re: Denied Service at a Restaurant
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Sugarandspicegirl
Can they do this?
I'm not sure who "they" are, but "they" apparently did do it, so it should be obvious that "they" can do it. If your intent was to ask if it's illegal for a place of public accommodation to exclude a customer solely because the customer is related to some particular person, the answer is yes.