Can I Sue for Being Kicked Out of a Bar?

Yes, you may be able to sue a bar for kicking you out because of your race, religion, sex, disability, national origin, or other protected group. Those subjected to such discrimination may have legal grounds to sue and seek remedies such as injunctive relief or punitive damages. But bars can legally kick you out for almost any other reason, including being obnoxious or overly intoxicated.

Proving illegal discrimination can be complicated. You must show evidence of intent, and it's unlikely bouncers or other bar staff will willingly admit they kicked you out of the bar for an unlawful reason.

If you've been kicked out of a bar for an unlawful reason, it's natural to feel shock, humiliation, anger, and confusion. This is especially true if your removal was in view of the public or accompanied by derogatory language. This article explains your options for pursuing legal action against the bar. But you may benefit from working with a civil rights lawyer.

An experienced attorney can advocate for you and guide you through the legal process. If you were injured while being kicked out, consider consulting a personal injury attorney who can assess your situation for a personal injury case.

The History of Pubs, Taverns, and Bars

Bars have existed for centuries. The Tabard, a tavern made famous in Geoffrey Chaucer's The Canterbury Tales, was established in 1307 to accommodate pilgrims on the road to the Shrine of St. Thomas Becket. But the earliest use of the term "bar" can be traced to the 1600s, when it generally referred not to the entire establishment but just the serving area. People later began using the term to describe the entire drinking place.

Is This Considered Discrimination?

A hypothetical example may help illustrate this:

It's St. Patrick's Day, and you decide to dress up in green and head to a local Irish pub with some friends to have a couple of drinks. You're having an enjoyable night in a safe environment.

Until the door opens, and a group of patrons dressed all in orange walks in. They are loud and rambunctious, but not more so than those dressed in green. Next, an Irish bouncer heads over to a particularly loud young patron (let's say his name is William), takes him by the arm, and shoves him to the door. As he throws him out, the bouncer shouts, “We don't serve Proddies here on St. Paddy's Day! Don't let us see you come in here again!"

You have no idea what a “Proddy" is, so you ask the bartender as he's refilling your drink. The bartender smirks and tells you that a “Proddy" is a Protestant.

You're not sure why, but that doesn't seem right to you. Is it legal for the bouncer to kick William out of the bar, a public accommodation, because he is a Protestant? The answer is no.

Federal and State Anti-Discrimination Laws

The federal government and the states have laws that prohibit discrimination in public accommodations, such as bars. Title II of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Americans with Disabilities Act create protected classes. If you are a member of one of the following protected classes, federal law prohibits someone from discriminating against you in a public accommodation because of:

• Religion
• Race
• Color
• National Origin
• Real or perceived disability

Most states have expanded this list of protected classes with their own civil rights laws. These laws prohibit discrimination against the following classes:

• Sex
• Sexual orientation
• Gender identity
• Age

Let's go back to our example with William. The bouncer assumed William was a Protestant because he wore orange on St. Patrick's Day. Further, the bouncer used a religious slur against Protestants by calling William a Proddy. A reasonable person could conclude that the bouncer kicked William out of the bar because of his religion. That would violate state and federal civil rights laws, and William could sue the bar.

Proving Intentional Discrimination

William's challenge is proving intentional discrimination. To do so, he will need to present evidence tending to show that the bouncer kicked him out of the bar because of his religion.

He could do this through direct and circumstantial evidence. Direct evidence tends to prove a fact in itself without the need to draw an inference. Circumstantial evidence doesn't prove a fact unless you draw an inference. Both can be powerful in court.

Direct Evidence

Direct evidence is a testimony, a document, or something else that tends to prove a fact without the need to draw an inference. William could call you as a witness. You could testify based on your own personal knowledge about what you heard.

The bouncer's statement, “We don't serve Proddies here on St. Paddy's Day," tends to show that William suffered his unceremonious eviction from the bar because of his perceived religion. There is no need to draw an inference; the statement itself is direct evidence of intentional discrimination.

Circumstantial Evidence

William could also use your testimony to establish circumstantial evidence of religious discrimination. Recall that William was wearing orange in an Irish pub on St. Patrick's Day. Wearing orange on a day you're supposed to wear green doesn't prove anything, on its face, beyond a peculiar fashion choice. For it to be circumstantial evidence of religious discrimination, William would need to build a connection between wearing orange and the bouncer's belief that William was a Protestant.

Think of circumstantial evidence as a chain between the evidence and the fact you are trying to prove. You need to establish the links to make the chain. To create the links, William would have to provide evidence of the following:

• He was wearing orange in an Irish bar on St. Patrick's Day
• Certain Protestants in Northern Ireland would wear orange on St. Patrick's Day to tweak the Catholics during the Troubles
• The bouncer was a Catholic from Northern Ireland

Your testimony could create some of these links. You could swear that William was wearing orange on St. Patrick's Day. You could also swear that Murphy's was an Irish bar. But William would need additional evidence to establish the other links of the old prejudice, the bouncer's familiarity with the prejudice, and the bouncer's nationality.

If William could offer this evidence and create these links, you could infer that the bouncer believed William was Protestant because he was wearing orange on St. Patrick's Day.

What Can You Recover in a Discrimination Case?

William's civil rights attorney determines he has a valid discrimination claim against the bar. They decide to sue the bar for religious discrimination. If they win the case, William may be eligible for the following remedies:

Injunctive Relief

The first thing William's lawyer might ask for is injunctive relief. An injunction is a court order compelling someone to do or not do something. If you violate an injunction, the court can hold you in contempt. That typically results in financial penalties.

William likes the bar and would like to become a regular, despite what the bouncer did. He could ask the court for an injunction compelling the bar to lift its permanent ban on him. If the court issues such an injunction and the bar doesn't let him return, the judge could hold the bar owner in contempt.

The judge could also theoretically find the bar owner in criminal contempt and recommend a criminal referral.

Compensatory Damages

William's lawyer would ask for compensatory damages. Compensatory damages are monies intended to compensate someone for a loss. They are intended to make you whole. Compensatory damages include:

• Lost wages
• Medical bills
• Harm to your reputation
• Out-of-pocket expenses
• Pain and suffering

Say the bouncer hurt William's shoulder when he threw him out of the bar. William had to see a doctor and get physical therapy. An award of compensatory damages could include an amount to pay off these bills. William may also be able to recover for, among other things, the humiliation of being thrown out of the bar and the pain and suffering he sustained from personal injury.

Punitive Damages

William's lawyer will probably seek punitive damages. Punitive damages are not intended to compensate you for a loss. They are intended to punish a wrongdoer for outrageous behavior and to deter others from engaging in similar misconduct. You need to show actual malice or reckless indifference to your civil rights.

In some states, the amount you can recover is capped. In other states, there is no limit. In reality, the U.S. Constitution is the limit. But that almost never comes into play unless the punitive damage award exponentially exceeds the amount of compensatory damages.

Punitive damages are hard to get, as you need to show extreme and outrageous conduct. But in William's case, they are worth asking for. Throwing someone out of a bar because of their religion is quite offensive and could be considered extreme and outrageous. Likewise, it's unacceptable in our society and is the sort of thing you'd want to deter others from doing.

William may not win, but he certainly has a reasonable chance to recover punitive damages.

Court Costs Attorney Fees

William may also be able to recover his court costs and attorney fees. In most circumstances, a party is responsible for paying their own lawyers. But, the Civil Rights Attorney's Fees Act of 1976 permits a judge, in their discretion, to order the losing party to pay the prevailing party's reasonable attorney fees.

If William wins his case, he will be the prevailing party. But the bar could be ordered by the judge to pay the civil rights attorney William hired, as long as their fees were reasonable under the circumstances. If the judge believes the lawyer charged too much, they can reduce the fees to what they think is reasonable.

A Civil Rights Lawyer Can Help You Sue a Bar

The example we used in this article is fairly straightforward. But most civil rights cases can be more complicated. For example, the line between a bar's legitimate dress code enforcement and illegal discrimination isn't always clear.

As we have shown, proof is often a hurdle you have to overcome. Not every bouncer is going to tell you why they are kicking you out of a bar.

Consider consulting with an experienced civil rights lawyer. They can give you legal advice about your claim and help you decide whether filing a discrimination case against the bar that kicked you out is worth the time and effort. If a negligent security person injured you, consider consulting with a personal injury lawyer about an injury claim. Your lawyer can also negotiate on your behalf with the bar's insurance company and handle all legal services.