A woman is suing the operators of Southern California strip club, claiming she wasn't allowed to enter the premises without a man.
Tamara Yatkin of El Segundo filed the lawsuit on Friday in Los Angeles Superior Court against Paradise Showgirls in Industry, accusing the strip club of discrimination based on sex and sexual orientation. Yatkin is a lesbian.
Yatkin is seeking unspecified damages and an injunction against the club to try to force it to change what she claims are its discriminatory policies.
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According to the suit, Yatkin, 54, went to Paradise Showgirls in June 2013 on a recommendation from a longtime customer.
She asked the doorman about the club's cover charge and whether it accepted other clubs' discount passes. The man told her the price and asked if she was alone, and when Yatkin said "yes," she was told she needed to be with a man to enter the club, the suit alleges.
Yatkin "asked the man if he was joking, and he responded, 'it is policy,'" the suit alleges. The man, who told Yatkin he was the manager, said the club had past issues of "women entering the club and causing problems."
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Thought Yatkin "reassured the man that she was not a problem, that she was a lesbian who wanted to spend money and have a good time," she was still not allowed in, the suit states.
She then tried to contact the club for two weeks about the policy but club management "could not be bothered."
Yatkin filed discrimination complaints with the California Department of Fair Employment and Housing before suing the club.
The manager of Paradise Showgirls declined to comment for this story.
An attorney for Yatkin could not be reached for comment.
