PHILADELPHIA — A Baltimore household is suing a Sesame Avenue-themed amusement park for $25 million over claims of racial discrimination, alleging a number of costumed characters ignored a 5-year-old Black woman throughout a meet-and-greet occasion final month.
The lawsuit comes within the wake of a video, shared broadly on social media, exhibiting two different Black ladies apparently being snubbed by a costumed worker throughout a parade on the park in Langhorne, exterior Philadelphia. Sesame Place apologized in a press release and promised extra coaching for its workers after the video went viral earlier this month.
The swimsuit, which seeks class motion standing, was filed in a federal courtroom in Philadelphia in opposition to SeaWorld Parks, the proprietor of the Sesame Place, for “pervasive and appalling race discrimination.”
The lawsuit alleges 4 workers dressed as Sesame Avenue characters ignored Quinton Burns, his daughter Kennedi Burns and different Black company throughout the meet-and-greet on June 18. The lawsuit says “SeaWorld’s performers readily engaged with quite a few equally located white prospects.”
Throughout a press convention held Wednesday, one of many household’s attorneys, Malcolm Ruff, referred to as for transparency from SeaWorld and for the corporate to compensate the Burns household. The swimsuit was filed within the U.S. District Courtroom for the Japanese District of Pennsylvania.
