Bay Area restaurant forced to close after being hit by sex discrimination lawsuit for hosting 'ladies night'

A popular Peruvian restaurant in California's East Bay has been forced to close after a sex discrimination lawsuit over its 'ladies night' left it in financial ruin.

Lima Restaurant, a family-run eatery in Concord, announced it will serve its final meals on New Year's Eve.

Owner and chef John Marquez announced the news after a 'devastating' legal battle over the restaurant's weekly promotion offering half-price drinks to women.

Lima had been running the three-hour ladies' night discount for years before being hit with the discrimination suit.

‘Sadly we have to announce the permanent closure of Lima,' the restaurant announced on Facebook. 

'Despite our best efforts, we have been unable to fully recover from the recent discrimination lawsuit related to our ladies' night discount plus the challenges we faced were compounded by the operating costs increases that have affected our industry.

'We are deeply grateful to our loyal customers who have supported us throughout the years. Your patronage has meant the world to us, and we are proud of the community we built together.

‘Thank you for the memories and for being a part of the Lima family. We hope to see you one last time before we close our doors on December 31st.'

Marquez and his family think they were targeted by people outside the community who wanted to leverage state laws intended to promote equality, KRON reported.

Attempting to save the business, Lima launched a GoFundMe campaign in September 2023 to help cover its mounting legal fees. 

The fundraiser describes the legal action as 'financially devastating' and threatening 'the survivorship of the restaurant, the jobs of our employees and the well-being of their families.'

Owner Marquez wrote: 'We are a small family restaurant that specializes in Peruvian cuisine and are asking for your help. 

'The restaurant offered "Ladies Night" and it consisted of ladies getting well drinks and wine for half the price between 5:30pm to 8:30 pm. once a week.

'Recently we were sued for discrimination alleging that all patrons who do not identify as female, including men, non-binary individuals and transgender men, were required to pay full price for their alcoholic beverages while patrons who identify as female were given 50 percent off their alcoholic beverages.

'Now we are facing a difficult hardship in having to pay for the lawsuit and attorney's fees.' 

However, the GoFundMe raised only $4,353 of it $30K goal. 

Loyal customers were outraged by the news and have rallied behind the establishment - with many saying Lima served the best Peruvian food in the area and that it will be missed deeply. 

One commented: 'People nowadays are narrow minded and too sensitive to whatever's revolving around them. Filing a lawsuit for the sake of destroying someone’s livelihood, business reputation, and selfish gratification is unacceptable.'

'Is very sad a place like this restaurant and nice employees have to close down because still people outside taking advantage of any situation to destroy families and businesses,' another heartbroken customer wrote.

'This is ridiculous,' another enraged user chimed in.

'I've read of several places having "ladies night" or similar stuff and none have gotten in trouble or had to close. Is there anything else you can do to remain open?'