KANSAS CITY, Mo. – A new report finds that the dress code at the Power & Light District isn’t uniformly enforced.
Phillip Yelder, with the Human Relations Department, says after repeated complaints of racial discrimination they decided to put the dress code to a test.
On Sept. 18 and 19 they sent 11 men to the entrance to the P&L’s Live Stage and the entrance to Lucky Strike.
Five of the men were black, three were Hispanic and three were white. According to the report the minorities were denied entrance 45 percent of the time. Whites were given entrance every time.
"None of them were dressed inappropriate except for one Caucasian that we indicated in the report was wearing athletic shorts, which is not allowed by the dress code. But that individual was still allowed to go into the venue,” says Yelder.
Yelder would not go so far as to say their test proved discriminatory practices.
“We concluded that there was total inconsistency in the way the Power and Light District enforces its dress code,” he says.
The findings come at the same time an African American family filed a racial discrimination complaint with the Missouri Human Rights Commission. They are seeking the right to sue the Cordish Company and Mosaic.
The family claims they were denied entrance into Mosaic because of the way they were dressed. However, they say similarly dressed whites were admitted.
“We've struggled and struggled to work out the dress code at Power & Light. Obviously I'm disappointed that a lawsuit may be filed,” says Kansas City Mayor Mark Funkhouser.
As part of the report the Human Relations Department made several recommendations to the entertainment district. They recommended video cameras be put up at all entrances, employees have ongoing training on proper dress, posters showing proper attire are shown at the entrance and customers be given a satisfaction survey.
