Ruling rejects men-women price policy

When Todd Phillips looks to the future in Las Vegas, he says he sees a day when everyone, regardless of gender, will have to pay the same price to get into a nightclub.

That vision, he says, became clearer Monday when a decision was handed down by the Nevada Equal Rights Commission on a complaint he brought a year ago after his wife got a free gym membership and he didn't.

"It was a great day in civil rights," he said of the Monday ruling. "We're all God's children, and we must be treated equally."

In a five-page decision, the commission ruled it was discriminatory for the Las Vegas Athletic Club to allow women to join the gym for free while charging men $10.

The state's public policy, the commission ruled, is "to foster the right of all persons reasonably to seek and be granted services in places of public accommodation, without discrimination, distinction or restriction because of ... sex."

The ruling, the 46-year-old Phillips said, has the casinos uptight because they charge men and women differently for entry into many clubs.

"The casinos are in turmoil about what this decision means for 'ladies nights,'" Phillips said about the nightclub practice in which women often are allowed into nightclubs for free while men often have to fork out more than $20.

Whether casinos, which have attorneys studying the ruling, are indeed in turmoil is unclear. Also unclear is just how much power the Equal Rights Commission has.

"While we are continuing to review the Nevada Equal Rights Commission's position in the Las Vegas Athletic Club matter, at this time we do not intend to change our cover charge practices," Alan Feldman, a senior vice president of public affairs for MGM Mirage, said in a statement.

"We believe that the long-standing practice of many Nevada hospitality industries to charge different entry/cover charges to men and women continues to be lawful," Feldman wrote.

Dennis Perea, administrator of the Equal Rights Commission, agreed with Phillips on Tuesday that the ruling could have a bearing on what nightclubs do. But he also noted that Phillips' case with the athletic club is far from a done deal.

He said the power of the commission allows the parties involved to come to a resolution. If attempts at conciliation fail, Perea said, the commission could close the case and Phillips could seek redress in civil court.

Or the commission might hold a public hearing on the matter.

If the commission determines at the hearing that an unlawful practice has occurred, Perea thinks it could order an entity to cease and desist from the practice.

But Gary Peck, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Nevada, does not think that the commission has the power to win a cease-and-desist case in court.

Although it's the state's public policy not to discriminate on the basis of sex or sexual orientation, Peck said, that policy is different from law.

Peck said the commission can try to use its "bully pulpit" to get people to follow public policy, but there isn't a specific law on sex discrimination to enforce. "You like to think people will want to follow state policy," he said.

Lee Rowland, an ACLU attorney, said she also thinks the commission would be overreaching to try to enforce a cease-and-desist order.

She said she hopes the commission will help the ACLU write a sex anti-discrimination law with teeth in it during the next legislative session.

Perea said several anti-male bias cases are in the commission's pipeline. But he acknowledged that the power of the commission is unclear.

The Las Vegas Athletic Club's executive vice president, Chad Smith, said attorneys for the club are monitoring the situation.

He said the "women enroll free" special is often offered because women are more reliable when paying their membership dues and seldom are the subject of collection efforts.

Phillips' complaint, according to Perea, is the kind of anti-male gender bias case that other states have grappled with for several years.

Courts in California, Colorado, Iowa and Pennsylvania have found it illegal to adjust charges based on gender, but state courts in Illinois and Washington have found it a permissible means of attracting customers.

Feldman said if the decision of the commission is taken to its logical conclusion, "such practices as charging different prices for seniors or children at movies" are called into question.

Phillips, who calls himself "a semi-retired attorney without a Nevada license who writes music," said he thinks letting women into health clubs or nightclubs free is demeaning to them. It reinforces the idea, he said, that women do not earn as much money as men.

The commission did not support Phillips' other complaints against the athletic club. He argued that the club should not have specialized training areas exclusively for women. He asserted the club retaliated against him and revoked his membership for complaining.

"With regard to privacy rights, Nevada has recognized a right to privacy where body parts may be exposed," the ruling said in support of the training areas for women.

The commission said state law gave the agency no power to act on retaliation claims.

"I agree that the commission didn't have the power to act on my retaliation complaint," Phillips said. "But I don't agree that the women should have a special place and no men. We should all be treated equally. It's that simple."

Contact reporter Paul Harasim at pharasim@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-2908.