An Arkansas man wants to see a policy change at a local casino after he says he was discriminated against at the door. Jordan Kirk says a security guard and supervisor told him he needed to take his bag back to the car before coming inside, despite multiple women carrying similar bags.
When asked why he said he was told because “men don’t wear purses.”
The supervisor said it was their policy. “I asked him if a woman was carrying my bag could she take it in the door and he told me yes– but because I wasn’t, I couldn’t take it inside,” said Kirk.
He says a manger finally allowed the bag inside, only after searching t purse for explosives.
While Oaklawn Racing Casino Resort did not directly address Kirk’s concern, they sent us the following statement regarding the complaint:
First and foremost, anyone and everyone over the age of 21 are welcome at Oaklawn Racing Casino Resort as long as they adhere to our security requests and guidelines, as well as our COVID-19 precautions and have a valid ID. Safety is and always has been one of our top priorities at Oaklawn – for both our guests and our team members.
In keeping with our policy and commitment to provide the highest level of safety precautions, our personnel reserve the right to inspect incoming bags, backpacks, satchels, etc. regardless of form or size. It is essential we reserve this right in light of Oaklawn being a large public venue.
We’ve appropriately addressed Mr. Kirk’s incident with the team members who were involved along with their supervisors. As an important point of clarification, the General Manager of Oaklawn Racing Casino Resort was not present during this incident but our regularly scheduled security team and casino floor manager were there and did permit Mr Kirk to enter the facility with his bag.
Finally, Oaklawn would like to apologize for any inconvenience this incident may have caused Mr. Kirk.
Kirk says he received a Facebook message from the Vice President of Marketing at Oaklawn Racing Casino Resort reading: “On behalf of Oaklawn, I’d like to apologize for the incident and inconvenience last night. The situation has been addressed with our team members. Thank you.”
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