The Oregon Bureau of Labor and Industries (BOLI) has ordered the owner of the Twilight Room Annex, formerly The P Club, to pay $400,000 to the T-Girls, a group of transgendered women, for violating the Oregon Equality Act. The state also imposed a civil penalty of $5,000.
This is the first time BOLI has imposed a fine under the Oregon Equality Act.
According to the ruling, BOLI found substantial evidence of unlawful discrimination, which included voicemails from club owner Chris Penner to one of the group members.
Last year, Penner called one of the T-Girls, and left two voicemails requesting the group not spend Friday nights at the Twilight Room Annex. In his voicemail, Penner said that the club was getting an unwanted reputation as a “tranny bar” or a “gay bar.”
After receiving the voicemails, the T-Girls went to BOLI. Their complaint, one of over 180 complaints, was filed by Oregon Labor Commissioner Brad Avakian.
The T-Girls’ complaint was unique because it was the first the Commissioner filed, and Penner’s voicemail provided clear evidence of substantial discrimination, according to Charlie Burr, the Communications Director of BOLI.
The Oregon Equality Act makes it illegal for business owners, with exception to religious organizations and schools, to deny service to anyone based on sex, race, religion, disability or sexual orientation.
Burr said the case was important to the T-Girls because of the emotional distress the voicemails caused.
“You had a group of Oregonians that were denied equal access in a public place,” Burr said. “Their Friday night gatherings were an important part of their lives and their identity. They liked going there and they thought it was a safe place.”
Penner said he did not target the T-Girls because of their sexual orientation or identity, but because they were “obnoxious, drunk, (and) rude.”
“Any group of people, I don’t care who they are, whether it’s one person or 100 people, if you disrespect the other customers, if you disrespect staff, or you disrespect the establishment, you’re going to be asked to leave,” Penner said. “Not because they were men in dresses. It’s because of the way that they acted.”
Cassandra Lynn, one of the T-Girls, said Penner’s claims weren’t supported.
“We never did a thing wrong in two years,” Lynn said. “We never had an issue brought up – not one rowdy, loudness or obnoxious complaint.”
Penner said his business has always supported the LGBT community.
“The (Twilight Room Annex) has always been a progressive bar,” Penner said. “I’ve had gay, lesbian and transgendered employees.”
Jonathan Radmacher, Penner’s lawyer, said there was misunderstanding over the intention behind Penner’s phone call.
“He didn’t say he wouldn’t serve them,” Radmacher said. “He just asked them not to make it their Friday night (spot).”
Penner said he wasn’t surprised by the ruling on the BOLI case.
“I knew what the ruling was going to be,” Penner said. “I knew I was losing going into this, so the ruling was not really a surprise at all. We knew it was coming.”
Penner said there are many steps he can take now. Appealing or filing for bankruptcy are two options, but Penner is unsure what his course of action will be. He hopes to move on eventually.
“I’ve apologized,” Penner said. “I’ve done all I can do. I said something stupid and now I’m paying for it.”
