Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF), a legal firm that has so far won 20 cases at the U.S. Supreme Court, warned the WNBA that censoring fans at games may expose the organization and its partners to legal liability.
ADF attorney Suzanne E. Beecher sent WNBA commissioner Cathy Engelbert a legal letter (PDF) about two recent incidents involving fan censorship.
In one incident, a mother and daughter wore T-shirts to show their support for women-only sports teams at the game between Indiana Fever and Atlanta Dream. Security told the two fans to either cover up their clothes or leave the building.
The second incident involved a group of teenage girls who held up signs at a game between Seattle Storm and Indiana Fever to show support for player Sophie Cunningham, who also advocates for women-only sports teams.
“The co-owner [of Seattle Storm] berated the fans with profanity and called them insane,” Beacher wrote. “This incident left at least one of the teenage girls in tears.”
The WNBA could be sued under state and local public accommodations laws. An excerpt:
Most states and localities have laws that prevent private entities from denying services to individuals based on protected characteristics, such as race, sex, or religion. And some municipalities like Seattle also ban discrimination based on political ideology.
Discriminating against fans in this way is downright dumb. The commissioner and everyone in a leadership position in the WNBA should definitely think twice about censorship after an organization like ADF has warned them.
Does the WNBA really want to go up against plaintiffs represented by the ADF?
