Blacks File Suit Charging Restaurant With Bias

A dozen African Americans have filed a civil rights lawsuit this week charging that a fashionable West Hollywood restaurant discriminates against black customers, an allegation that the eatery’s owner strongly denies.

The lawsuit in Los Angeles Superior Court contends that Lola’s Restaurant on Fairfax Avenue turns away black customers because of a fight that occurred there some months ago between a white employee and a black diner.

Among other claims, the suit charges that managers, doormen and valet drivers conspired to block the entry of blacks by telling them they failed to make dinner reservations and violated dress codes by wearing tennis shoes.

Lola’s owner Lauren Dunsworth said Wednesday that she was shocked by the lawsuit. “These allegations are completely false and I find them appalling,” Dunsworth said. “We have certain policies here with regard to reservations and dress code that aren’t at all unusual. Lola’s welcomes everybody.”

Dunsworth opened Lola’s four years ago, and in that time the business has gained a reputation as a haunt of a young, hip crowd from the entertainment industry. It is also known for its eclectic furnishings and two-page martini menu, along with dishes that range from barbecue ribs to penne arabbiata.

At a Beverly Hills news conference Wednesday, plaintiff Nedra Jenkins said she made arrangements to hold her 30th birthday party at the restaurant’s bar in November. But she said the restaurant scuttled those plans the night before the party, when it learned she was black.

Jenkins, a lawyer for Los Angeles County, said she was lied to by the restaurant’s manager, who told her the place had been booked for an engagement party by film stars Brad Pitt and Jennifer Aniston. Jenkins said she twice drove by the restaurant that night and saw no party.

“The whole experience was extremely humiliating,” Jenkins said. “I had to rush and make new arrangements at greater cost and contact 50 guests about the change.”

Dunsworth said Wednesday that she was unaware of the conflict and did not know if the actors had ever booked Lola’s for a party. However, she said it was not her policy to permit parties at the bar. “We’re a restaurant, not a bar. If you’re booking a party here, you need to eat food.”