Lawsuit: Bowlmor Lanes Boss Weeded Out Minorities
NEW YORK (AP/1010 WINS) -- A lawsuit accuses a New York City businessman of using Facebook and MySpace to keep certain minorities from making reservations at his nightclub.
Five former workers at Bowlmor Lanes in Union Square filed the lawsuit in Manhattan state Supreme Court.
They say they were fired after objecting to what they described as racially discriminatory practices.
The suit says Tom Shannon allegedly researched prospective patrons on social-networking Web sites to see how they looked and dressed. It says he also wanted terms and conditions for booking events rewritten to prohibit baseball caps, sports jerseys and oversized jeans.
His attorney, Mercedes Colwin, said Shannon's company, Strike Holdings, was an industry leader in employee diversity and also issued the following statement Monday afternoon:
Strike Holdings is an industry leader in employee diversity. Half of its properties are managed by persons of color, and many of the company's upper level executives, including the Director of Human Resources and Comptroller, are also of color. As part of its unwavering commitment to cultural diversity and equal opportunity, Strike Holdings vigorously and without exception enforces a zero tolerance policy against any form of discrimination or harassment, and fully investigates any and claims of unlawful conduct. Strike Holdings is profoundly disappointed, and frankly, offended that several disgruntled employees terminated for purely legitimate reasons have apparently conspired to make baseless and completely meritless accusations of discrimination. These types of nuisance suits hamper the ability of dynamic companies like Strike Holdings to continue to grow its workforce and fuel our nation's economy. Indeed, by year's end, Strike Holdings will have added more than 600 full-time jobs. Strike Holdings is confident that it will be fully exonerated once all the facts are presented to a court of law.
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