I recently went to a local sports bar with my girlfriend, my brother
and his girlfriend. We went there on a crowded Saturday night
celebrate my brothers purchase of a new house in the community behind
the bar. We arrive at 8:00pm and sit down at a table to have a drink.
Now me and my brother don't drink alcohol, so the only 2 that are
drinking are our girlfriends. My brother went to the bar to get 2
waters and 2 beers for us. He comes back to the table with 3 bouncers
following. He said he was being kicked out. The bouncers stood around
our table and said don't make us push you out. So we follow my brother
out. Turns out the bartender's sister dated my brother 7 years ago. He
never like my brother, so when we showed up at the bar he was working
at, he told the bouncers to kick him out. My point is, what can I do
about this? We were made to feel like idiots in the middle of a
crowded bar/resturant. Pushed out by the bouncers and bartender for no
reason at all.

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Request for Question Clarification by mosquitohawk-ga on 22 Feb 2004 09:25 PST

Probably not much, what state are you in? 

At common law, property owners or their agents may choose who they
allow or don't allow on their property.  In Virginia, a
landowner/property owner may use sufficient force to evict a person
from their property if they refuse to leave.

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Clarification of Question by industry-ga on 22 Feb 2004 10:31 PST

This happened in Pennsylvania. I guess it sounds like theres not much
that I can do. The only reason I would go back there is it is a nice
place and its down the street from my brothers development.

There really isn't much that you can do about it, other than to
complain to the bartender's employer (ie. the manager, the owner(s),
etc). Technically, the sports bar is private property, so they have
the right to ask any patron to leave for whatever reason they wish. If
the reason provided was one that violated your
constitutionally-protected equality rights (ie. if it was because of
your ethnicity, your gender, your lifestyle choices, your religion),
then you might be able to bring a discrimination-based action against
the sports bar and its owners. However, since in this case it is
simply because the bartender doesn't like your brother, there is no
way to force the bartender to serve you other than to get his
manager/bar-owner to order him to do so. Again, it's private property.

Would you want to go back to such a place, anyway?

It's unfortunate to be the victim of this kind of unfairness, but I
don't think it should be illegal for the owners of private
establishments to pick and choose their clientele. I say this even
though I've been excluded from a private nightclub for a foolish
reason.

I was once asked to leave a club because the owner thought that
redheads are unlucky to have around. It irked me to be discriminated
against solely because of my hair color, but I left without making a
fuss. It was the club's loss, not mine. I could (and did) go elsewhere
to spend my money.

Pink

I never knew that you were a REDHEAD ...

I adore redheads!

(So does Daisy.)

It doesn't appear to me also, that you have much to do. 

However, you could tell everyone you know not to go there, and tell them why.

Private property arguments are flimsy when talking about an
establishment that is open to the public--discrimination b/c of race,
nationality, etc. is clearly prohibited, but owners also cannot
arbitrarily deny entrance or remove patrons.

The key to this issue is that ANY establishment that serves alcohol
has the RIGHT (protected by law) to refuse service at any time for
(almost) any reason.  Clearly, this situation was unfair but the
bartender did a good job of convincing the bouncers that your presence
was potentially disruptive.  Your only recourse would be to call the
manager and alert him of the bartender's actions.

On a side note, bartenders are liable for the actions of those they
serve and a resonsible manager will trust the instincts of his/her
bartenders.  Check out the National Restaurant Association's Bar Code
Training website.