Victory in restaurant discrimination case in the Czech Republic

07 December 1999

On October 27, 1999 the Hotel Imperial in Ostrava agreed to an out-of-court settlement of 25,000 Czech crowns (approximately 680 euros) in exchange for dropping a lawsuit for discriminatory refusal to serve Roma. The incident took place in November 1998 when waiters refused to serve three Roma, Mr Roman Bandy, Mr Petr Horvath, and Mr L'ubomir Zubák, in the presence of a non-Romani employee of the ERRC. The ERRC had provided the plaintiff Roma with a lawyer in the case. Following the ruling, the Czech daily Mladá Fronta Dnes reported the actions of the hotel as part of an "effort to stop pickpockets". The Court's approval of this settlement ends the first successful legal case in the Czech Republic to challenge racial discrimination in access to public service establishments such as bars, discos and restaurants. The money awarded in the settlement will be divided between two Romani organisations.

(ERRC, Mladá Fronta Dnes)