Totaljust
2007-05-10 04:09:14 UTC
(LOUISVILLE) -- Louisville rolled out the red carpet for a lot of
celebrities in town during Derby week, but O.J. Simpson wasn't welcome
at one restaurant, and the eatery's refusal to serve the man who was
acquitted of killing his former wife and here companion is causing
some controversy. WAVE 3's Scott Harvey has the details.
The general manager for Jeff Ruby's Steakhouse in Louisville, says
that Simpson showed up at around 10 p.m. Derby eve, after the Kentucky
Oaks. He says Simpson didn't have a reservation but demanded to be
seated.
The owner, Jeff Ruby, said he then approached Simpson at his table,
"the same table that Nick Lachey had just sat at, and had just left.
And I walked over to him, and I sat at the table, and I guess he was
waiting for the rest of his party. There might have been one other
person.
And I said: 'I'm not serving you. He looked at me ... dumbfounded and
I repeated. I said: 'I'm not serving you.'"
Ruby says at that point Simpson got up from his seat and began to
leave peacefully, although his girlfriend did protest. Ruby later told
us he asked Simpson to leave out of respect for the families of Nicole
Brown and Ron Goldman.
"I feel bad for the Goldman family and the Brown family," Ruby said.
"He ruined their lives. I may have ruined his Derby, but that doesn't
bother me. I'm OK with that."
But it's not OK with the Rev. Louis Coleman with Louisville's Justice
Resource Center. He says Ruby's refusal to serve Simpson violates the
Public Accommodation Law. Coleman has sent a letter to the Louisville
Human Relations Commission alleging racial discrimination, and asking
the commission file an official complaint against the restaurant.
"We just feel that actions should be taken against this owner, so that
this cannot be done to any other human being," Coleman said. He and
several other people picketed the restaurant on Wednesday.
It is against the law to refuse to serve a customer based on race, but
Emily Riggshartlage, an attorney with the Kentucky Commission on Human
Rights says there are situations when a business owner can legally
decline to serve someone.
"A business owner can refuse service if it's based on a personal
reason," Riggshartlage said, "as long as the refusal of service is not
based on race, color, national origin, religion or disability."
The commission will look at the letter and then decide if a complaint
will be filed. If a complaint is filed, an investigation will follow.
"Upon investigation, there would have to be some evidence that the ill
treatment was based on discrimination," Riggshartlage said.
Simpson was welcomed at another restaurant, Basa Modern Vietnamese
Cuisine, on Thursday. The co-owner, Steven Ton, said he tries to treat
everyone equally. "I try to treat everyone like family when they are
here. I treated him just like I did everyone else."
Ton also said none of the other customers complained about Simpson's
presence.
Simpson, a Heisman Trophy winner, has starred in several movies and
has been inducted into the NFL Hall of Fame. He was found not guilty
of killing his wife and Goldman in 1995, but was later found liable in
a civil trial and ordered to pay millions to the families of Brown and
Goldman.
He made headlines recently when he reportedly accepted money from to
write a book called "If I Did It" -- a hypothetical account of how he
would have committed the murders. The book and a television interview
were later canceled after public outcry.
celebrities in town during Derby week, but O.J. Simpson wasn't welcome
at one restaurant, and the eatery's refusal to serve the man who was
acquitted of killing his former wife and here companion is causing
some controversy. WAVE 3's Scott Harvey has the details.
The general manager for Jeff Ruby's Steakhouse in Louisville, says
that Simpson showed up at around 10 p.m. Derby eve, after the Kentucky
Oaks. He says Simpson didn't have a reservation but demanded to be
seated.
The owner, Jeff Ruby, said he then approached Simpson at his table,
"the same table that Nick Lachey had just sat at, and had just left.
And I walked over to him, and I sat at the table, and I guess he was
waiting for the rest of his party. There might have been one other
person.
And I said: 'I'm not serving you. He looked at me ... dumbfounded and
I repeated. I said: 'I'm not serving you.'"
Ruby says at that point Simpson got up from his seat and began to
leave peacefully, although his girlfriend did protest. Ruby later told
us he asked Simpson to leave out of respect for the families of Nicole
Brown and Ron Goldman.
"I feel bad for the Goldman family and the Brown family," Ruby said.
"He ruined their lives. I may have ruined his Derby, but that doesn't
bother me. I'm OK with that."
But it's not OK with the Rev. Louis Coleman with Louisville's Justice
Resource Center. He says Ruby's refusal to serve Simpson violates the
Public Accommodation Law. Coleman has sent a letter to the Louisville
Human Relations Commission alleging racial discrimination, and asking
the commission file an official complaint against the restaurant.
"We just feel that actions should be taken against this owner, so that
this cannot be done to any other human being," Coleman said. He and
several other people picketed the restaurant on Wednesday.
It is against the law to refuse to serve a customer based on race, but
Emily Riggshartlage, an attorney with the Kentucky Commission on Human
Rights says there are situations when a business owner can legally
decline to serve someone.
"A business owner can refuse service if it's based on a personal
reason," Riggshartlage said, "as long as the refusal of service is not
based on race, color, national origin, religion or disability."
The commission will look at the letter and then decide if a complaint
will be filed. If a complaint is filed, an investigation will follow.
"Upon investigation, there would have to be some evidence that the ill
treatment was based on discrimination," Riggshartlage said.
Simpson was welcomed at another restaurant, Basa Modern Vietnamese
Cuisine, on Thursday. The co-owner, Steven Ton, said he tries to treat
everyone equally. "I try to treat everyone like family when they are
here. I treated him just like I did everyone else."
Ton also said none of the other customers complained about Simpson's
presence.
Simpson, a Heisman Trophy winner, has starred in several movies and
has been inducted into the NFL Hall of Fame. He was found not guilty
of killing his wife and Goldman in 1995, but was later found liable in
a civil trial and ordered to pay millions to the families of Brown and
Goldman.
He made headlines recently when he reportedly accepted money from to
write a book called "If I Did It" -- a hypothetical account of how he
would have committed the murders. The book and a television interview
were later canceled after public outcry.