Lesbian Married Couple And A Vermont Inn Settle Discrimination Lawsuit

Details: Published on Thursday, 30 August 2012 22:15; Written by E-Li

vermont

A lesbian couple, Ming Linsley and Kate Linsley, helped by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), had filed a lawsuit against an Wildflower Inn in Vermont for discrimination. The company had indeed refused to host the reception of their marriage. The Inn has acccepted to pay a compensation.

The inn payed $10,000 of civil penalty to the Vermont Human Rights Commission and also placed $20,000 in a charitable trust.

The inn indicated in an official statement that this discrimination was the one of an employee not respecting the policy of the company: "A former Wildflower employee sparked the lawsuit when she falsely claimed that the inn would not allow a same-sex reception. The inn's actual business practice, which the Vermont Human Rights Commission approved in 2005, was to honestly disclose its owners' religious convictions (totally opposed to gay marriage) to potential customers while agreeing to serve everyone in accordance with the law."

That's not all!

Not to face this kind of problems anymore, the inn decided not to host marriages nor their receptions anymore. It would seem that this decision was already planned before the lawsuit according to the inn's lawyer. Well, that's easy to say that after.

"We're glad that the Wildflower Inn has recognized that the way we were treated was wrong and that no other family will have to experience what we did," said Ming Linsley in a statement released by the ACLU. "Although we found a different location and had a beautiful day, all families should feel welcome at any resort that's open to the public."