Two men who claimed they were denied entry to a Sydney nightclub because it was “Asian night” will walk away with $15,000 after winning a racial discrimination case against the venue.
The NSW Civil and Administrative Tribunal found late last month that Mr B’s Hotel, a Pitt Street club popular with Thai clientele, breached the Anti-Discrimination Act when a security guard refused entry to Luke Masters and his friend, Wayne Clothier on a Saturday night in September 2017.
The pair filed a complaint against Reserve Hotels, the owner of the venue, and SSC Security, the company contracted to supply the security guards.
Masters, 32, and Clothier, 33 alleged that a bouncer put his hand up when they approached the door of the club and said “Sorry boys. I can’t let you in tonight. We’re not mixing crowds. It’s Asian night.”
They claimed this amounted to a denial of services on the ground of race in breach of section 19(a) of the Act.
Reserve Hotels and SSC Security denied the incident occurred, and if it did happen said they did not authorise the behavour of the security guard.
SSC Security general manager Andrew Freemen told the tribunal in an affidavit that neither he nor any other company representative authorised any security guard to refuse entry to Mr B’s Hotel or any other client premises on the basis of race. He said he was not aware of any Asian-only function at Mr B’s Hotel and said “the alleged incident appears to have never taken place”.
The general manager of Reserve Hotels, Arthur Balayannis, also denied that the venue held Asian-only nights, and lawyers for both respondents claimed Masters and Clothier were motivated to make a false complaint for financial reward.
The tribunal rejected the claim, saying the pair were “honest witnesses”.
“They gave evidence to the effect that their motive in pursuing the claim was to right what they saw as a significant wrong and to prevent such conduct occurring in the future. We accept this evidence,” the tribunal said.
“We find it inherently improbable that the applicants would seek to pursue this claim over such a lengthy period of time and with significant inconvenience to themselves, including by giving evidence before the Tribunal, for financial reward. Awards of this Tribunal for such discrimination, in the absence of any economic loss, are generally modest.”
The tribunal said it wasn’t necessary to find that there was an in fact an Asian-only night, but only that the security guard told the pair there was.
“In our view, Mr Masters was a highly credible witness and based on his evidence, which has not been directly contradicted by the security guard in question, we are satisfied a statement to that effect was made,” it said.
The tribunal also found that the venue and security company had not shown that they hadn’t authorised the security guard to discriminate against clientele or that they took reasonable steps to prevent the discrimination.
The two companies have been ordered to pay $7,500 each to Masters and Clothier. The tribunal has also proposed that the hotel issue an apology on its website and Facebook page, but has invited submissions on the form of apology.
Masters and Clothier were represented by Mark Seymour. Reserve Hotels and SSC Security were represented by Joseph Klarica, instructed by Solon Lawyers.
The case is Masters v Reserve Hotels Pty Ltd.