A prominent nonprofit theater in New York has settled a lawsuit claiming that a discount offered to people of color was racially discriminatory.
Playwrights Horizons, an Off Broadway company with a long history of presenting acclaimed work, offered an apology to Kevin Lynch, a white musician from New Jersey who sued over last fall’s “BIPOC night” performance of “Practice,” a play about theatermaking by Nazareth Hassan.
“Playwrights Horizons regrets that Mr. Lynch felt excluded because of his race,” the theater said in a six-sentence statement issued jointly by both parties on Tuesday. The statement did not specify whether the theater paid any money to Mr. Lynch, but said, “Playwrights Horizons and Mr. Lynch have agreed to resolve the matter out of court.”
“Playwrights Horizons reaffirms its longstanding commitment to creating a welcoming environment for everyone, regardless of race, ethnicity or any other protected characteristic,” the statement added. “Playwrights Horizons is committed to following the law and will ensure that any discounts are clearly available to audience members regardless of their race or ethnicity, consistent with applicable laws.”
Both parties said they had agreed not to comment further.
Many theaters invite groups of patrons with common interests or affiliations to attend shows on specific nights, with the idea that those patrons might welcome the opportunity to share the experience. And in recent years, a handful of theaters have experimented with “Black Out” nights and other similar events, intended to attract patrons of color, who are often underrepresented in theater audiences.
At issue in the lawsuit, which was filed in December in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, was whether a discount offered as part of the Playwrights event was discriminatory.
Because the case was settled, that question was not resolved. The theater’s statement makes it clear that any future discounts will not be race-based, but also made clear, in a dismissal stipulation filed with the court on Tuesday, that it was not conceding wrongdoing.
“Nothing contained in this stipulation shall be deemed an admission of any liability, wrongdoing, or the merit or the lack of merit of any claim or defense by any party,” said the stipulation, which was signed by Consovoy McCarthy, the law firm representing Lynch, and Susman Godfrey, the law firm representing Playwrights Horizons.
The lawsuit was facilitated by Edward Blum, the president of the American Alliance for Equal Rights, who for years has challenged affirmative action and other race-based practices.
“The American Alliance for Equal Rights is grateful that Playwrights Horizons has apologized for its racially discriminatory policies and will now treat all of its patrons equally, regardless of their race,” Blum wrote in an email.
Michael Paulson is the theater reporter for The Times.
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