CC-by-SA: James JinAn amendment to the Prohibition on Selected Entry Law has been approved by the Knesset plenum today (30 March 2011) in its second and third readings. Club-goers who are not granted entry to a nightclub on the basis of discrimination will now be able to sue the establishment.
The Knesset has approved the final draft of an amendment to the existing legislation: Prohibition of Discrimination in Products, Services, Entry to Places of Entertainment and Entry to Public Places Law (Presumption of Discrimination). The purpose of the amendment is to fight the phenomenon of “selected entry” into nightclubs and to prevent the practice of “leaving customers out to dry” at the entrance to the club.
The amendment, drafted by ACRI (as was the original text of the law), establishes that a nightclub inhibiting the entry of any portion of its clients will be considered to have engaged in illegal discrimination, unless it can prove otherwise. MKs Shelly Yachimovich and Shlomo Molla introduced the amendment and helped advance it through the Knesset.
According to ACRI attorney Debbie Gild-Hayo, “Unfortunately, people without the right skin color or accent are very familiar with selected entry at entertainment establishments. To get around the prohibition of discrimination, clubs have instead turned to the practice of ‘leaving customers out to dry’ on lines at the entrance, hoping that they’ll give up and leave the place. The real test is still ahead of us. To stop selected entry we need not only new laws, but victims of this practice who will sue the clubs in court for their insult and injury. The practice of selected entry will only cease to exist when club owners understand that discrimination costs them money, a lot of money.”
The law does not prohibit clubs from denying entry to criminal elements, it only prohibits selected entry based on non-relevant criteria.
