Easebe Enterprises, Inc. v. Alcoholic Beverage Control Appeals Board

The instant petition presents the question, “May a business establishment maintain its State-issued license to sell liquor on public premises if it refuses to permit men to enter during a show featuring male dancers?” Our review of the applicable statutory and case authority compels a negative answer.

The underlying administrative proceedings were instituted in January 1981 when the Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control (hereinafter the Department) filed an accusation which alleged that Easebe Enterprises, Inc., dba Chippendale’s, had engaged in gender-based discrimination when it refused to admit males during the performance of certain of its entertainments.

An administrative hearing was conducted at which it was established that the Department had received a complaint that Chippendale’s was impermissibly discriminating against men. To investigate this claim, on two separate occasions the Department sent a different male investigator to Chippendale’s in November 1980. They each were denied entry to the show which featured male performers because they (the investigators) were men. They were told the performance was for “ladies only.” The owner of Chippendale’s also…