Club cited for alleged
bias toward femalesBlue Tropix is accused of charging
men but letting women in free
One way to get the guys to go to your nightclub and spend money is to get the ladies to go. One way to get the ladies to go is to let them in free. One problem: In Hawaii it's illegal.
The Blue Tropix Restaurant and Nightclub was scheduled to appear before the Honolulu Liquor Commission today to answer a gender discrimination complaint.
An unidentified male said that on Aug. 13 he went to the club at 1700 Kapiolani Blvd. and had to pay a cover charge yet saw females being admitted free of charge, according to the commission's agenda.
"It's a violation of our rules," said Wallace Weatherwax, administrator of the liquor commission.
He recalled that in 1998 the commission fined Diamond Head Grill $500 for doing the same thing, and he expects to recommend a similar fine for Blue Tropix.
An official at Blue Tropix declined to comment yesterday, at least until after today's hearing.
Other popular nightclubs on Oahu advertise "ladies nights," but it is unclear if that means women are getting in free and men are not.
Ocean Club at Restaurant Row advertises an "Everybody's Ladies Night" on Tuesdays, but that means everybody is admitted free "because it's not your fault you're a man," quipped an employee who declined to be identified.
Weatherwax said his agency conducted an investigation of the Blue Tropix customer's complaint and issued the nightclub a warning.
"I guess they didn't believe it," he said.
Under the commission's rules, an establishment with a liquor license cannot "deny to any person the full and equal enjoyment of any of the licensee's accommodations, advantages, facilities, goods, privileges or services on the basis of that person's race, color, disability, religion, sex, sexual orientation or ancestry."
There is another watchdog against such discrimination: the state's Civil Rights Commission.
Executive Director William Hoshijo said he cannot recall any recent cases before the commission involving complaints about nightclub "ladies nights," but said it is clearly a violation of the state's civil rights law.
Such cases usually are handled by contacting the company and informing them of the law, he said.
In explaining the state law, a Civil Rights Commission brochure says illegal discrimination occurs when "a store or restaurant gives discounts to people of the opposite sex, but you still have to pay full price."
