Male Activists Fight for Their Rights
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Written by
Jeffrey Johnson
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UPDATED: Aug 7, 2018
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Some men feel that, especially in the #MeToo era, their own rights are bring abused.
As the New York Times reports, Rich Allison, a former Marine Corps captain, has been the plaintiff in 13 lawsuits — most involving alleged discrimination against men.
He has sued under California’s Unruh Civil Rights Act, which prohibits discrimination by businesses on the basis of sex, race and other personal characteristics.
Diversity Scholarship
Allison sued the nonprofit Financial Services Information Sharing and Analysis Center for offering a $5,000 Diversity Scholarship to women.
The nonprofit was seeking to address the fact that over 90% of the people working in cybersecurity were male.
Men’s Rights
Allison is involved with the National Coalition for Men (NCFM), an advocacy organization that seems to advance men’s rights.
The NCFM has 29 chapters in the US and abroad.
One of the men involved in the movement is Allan Candelore. I wrote about him in this blog about a case involving allegations of age discrimination in pricing by the Tinder dating app.
The Coalition members object when bars and clubs offer “Ladies Night” free admission or drink discounts only to women. Sometimes they’ve sued in response to such offers.
“Chicks for Free”
For example, Allison was a plaintiff in a civil rights case against the heavy metal band “Five Finger Death Punch” and against House of Blues and Live Nation when the band held a “Chicks for Free” concert but charged men $27 each.
Allison and others also sued a country club for hosting a networking cocktail party for women, and sued a restaurant and bar for charging men (but not women) a cover charge.
All of the cases settled.
One case, a class action involving a Ladies Night discount at Tony Roma’s, led to a $370,000 settlement.
Mother’s Day
Another case, involving free hats given to women attending an Oakland A’s baseball game on Mother’s Day, settled for $500,000.
Allison also sued a shooting range for providing free use for women once a month.
Another recent case was brought against a strip club for hosting a “Lesbian Night.”
Trump Club Fights Back
However, the plaintiffs don’t always win. In 2011, the Trump National Golf Club in Rancho Palos Verdes, California was sued for offering women golfers a 25% discount and a donation of part of their green fees to research organizations during Breast Cancer Awareness Month.
(At the same time, as the LA Times notes, the Trump club was sued because, allegedly, when Donald Trump “saw less-attractive women working at his club… he wanted them fired.”)
A judge dismissed the Breast Cancer donation case, ruling that the promotion didn’t “perpetuate any kind of stereotype, but rather supported public awareness of breast cancer.”
The decision was upheld on appeal.
Bait
According to the Times, the men’s rights plaintiffs feel their lawsuits benefit women as well as men because special offers by bars and clubs are often intended to attract women customer as “bait” for men.