Pregnant woman kicked out of bar

Melissa - posted on 07/07/2011

Thanks, Sara :0) Also, someone mentioned earlier (one of the first comments I think) that there's the risk of bar fights. I don't know about you, but in the 7 or so years that I've been going to bars on a semi-regular basis (I'm not an alcoholic lol like I said, it's the town dive bar that everyone just gathers at, most times we don't even drink, but I've also gone into the city with friends on big nights out and what not) I think i've seen maybe 2 fights. If you want to be concerned for that, that's understandable, but there's preventative measures other than kicking this poor woman out. Don't gather near large groups of people, fights tend to start as arguments, so be aware of your surroundings, if possible, go hang out in a little corner booth with your friends. I highly doubt this woman would have been hanging out in the middle of some big crowd of angry drunk men lol. She was probably just out having a good time, enjoying a night out with the friends she was preparing to not be able to see very often for quite some time. She shouldn't have been victimized like this.

*Fluffy Bunnies - posted on 07/06/2011

Melissa brings up a good point. So should pregnant women be denied access to any location that serves alcohol? If that's the case then you can't go to restaurants, sports games, festivals, etc, etc, etc. By saying the bar owner is right then you're saying it's right to discriminate against pregnant women.

Melissa - posted on 07/06/2011

There's a little town "dive" bar that a lot of my friends, even my parents, go to hang out at. People bring food, hang out and have a good time. I've gone during both of my pregnancies and spent hours just hanging out with friends, and I've never once gotten even a sideways glance. I actually was at a concert in the capital about 5 years ago and saw a pregnant woman drinking at the bar there. I didn't know if it was alcoholic or not, but my instant reaction was to be like "omg what is she doing??" and a worker of that establishment told me that in Connecticut it's actually illegal to deny a pregnany woman alcohol. A concept I found even MORE ridiculous. The world is SO lacking on common sense. It SHOULD be illegal for a pregnant woman to consume alcohol (outside of the one glass of red wine a day in teh second trimester which some chose to utilize) but a woman should NOT be kicked out of a bar simply for being pregnant. I've had many friends go out to the bars while pregnant just for a last "night out" before buckling down to diaper changing and endless feedings lol. Being in an establishment that serves alcohol does not require that you drink it. Some people are so senseless.

Heather - posted on 07/03/2011

The reason I was comparing the two was because they're both private establishments and have the right to deny entry to anyone they think might be harmed.

Toni - posted on 07/03/2011

There is a huge difference to riding a roller coaster and entering and being in a bar - the roller coaster has a high chance of harming the unborn baby, the bar doesn't, you can't compare the two things.

Heather - posted on 07/03/2011

Actually, you're wrong Sara. America was established on the principal that you have the right to protect your life, liberty and pursuit of happiness, that people had the right to protect their homes and businesses from things like quartering troops and unlawful entry/tresspassing. If Walmart can deny service to someone not wearing shirt or shoes then a bar owner can certainly not allow pregnant women in their bar. Most theme parks won't allow pregnant women to ride a rollercoaster if they're over a certain number of weeks pregnant because it's a liability.

Maybe if our society weren't so sue-happy and the bar owner could guarantee the woman wouldn't hurt herself or her fetus it would be different. Not every bar bans pregnant women. The great thing about America is that you can choose to go somewhere else. If the lady doesn't like that she was asked to leave, she never has to come back, but imo, what the bar owner did was perfectly legal. :)

*Fluffy Bunnies - posted on 07/02/2011

"You don't have a RIGHT to enter any private establishment in America. It's a priviledge." That's actually the opposite of what America is about. That's why we have laws to protect us from discrimination. You can't throw someone out of a bar for being black, white, etc. because that's discrimination. Throwing her out simply because she's pregnant is discrimination. If she was starting bar fights then it would be another story.

Kellie - posted on 07/02/2011

*Rolls Eyes*

Well I guess next pregnancy I'd better stick to my bed then because going outside may result in my getting injured because anything can happen to anyone anywhere FFS.

Jennifer - posted on 07/01/2011

Maybe its a rough joint and they were worried about her being injured or something. I think they were just trying to protect themselves from liability. A lot of places are getting more cautious about pregnant women, they don't want to be sued if she falls or gets roughed up waiting in line for something. Private business can make their own rules about that.

Jennifer - posted on 07/01/2011

Maybe its a rough joint and they were worried about her being injured or something. I think they were just trying to protect themselves from liability. A lot of places are getting more cautious about pregnant women, they don't want to be sued if she falls or gets roughed up waiting in line for something. Private business can make their own rules about that.

Heather - posted on 06/30/2011

Any private establishment has the right to refuse service to anyone based on their saftey or the safety of another person. Since we don't know the circumstances of the woman in the bar other than the fact she was pregnant and they asked her to leave, I would give the bar the benefit of the doubt. The problem with this is, if the bar had allowed her to stay and the baby had been born with a defect, say from 2nd hand smoke exposure or fetal alcohol syndrome, and mom can't pay for it-she sues the bar for serving her. You don't have a RIGHT to enter any private establishment in America. It's a priviledge. But any business owner has a right to protect his establishment. Everyone's crucifying the bar, but imho I don't think they did anything wrong...though they'll probably lose some business from pregnant women....lol

Bevely - posted on 06/30/2011

I don't think he had the right to kick her out. But people are so sue happy these days, maybe the owner thought the pregnant chick was going to sue the bar after her baby is born with asthma caused by her patronage at a bar where she was forced to inhale second hand smoke. It wouldn't suprise me.

Charlie - posted on 05/03/2011

I think and adult can make the judgment on how "risky " a bar is on her own ...not all bars are rednecks dowing shots and brawling , there are some lovely classy bars , our local bar has a huge playground built out the back with tables and picnic space .

Keli - posted on 05/03/2011

i think its wrong to kick her out. its the risk SHE took. if there are rowdy ones then its them that should be removed. when i was pregnant all summer i felt left out not having a drink in my hand so having someone remove me from a bar would be insult. there is nothing wrong with socialising when your pregnant.

Jen - posted on 05/03/2011

Tina, by your logic all pregnant women should be at home, in bed except when required to exercise.

Shall I toss in barefoot in the kitchen or would that be over the top?

Lissy - posted on 05/02/2011

That is just stupid , pregnant women should be able to wherever they like .

*Fluffy Bunnies - posted on 05/02/2011

You may not want to go, but that doesn't give them the right to kick her our for being pregnant. That's called discrimination. It's the same as kicking someone out because they're black, white or anywhere in between.

Tina - posted on 05/02/2011

yeah it ciould happen anywere but more of a chance in a bar, and the bar does not have to be crowded for someting to go wrong, it just not a place to go when your pregnet

*Fluffy Bunnies - posted on 05/02/2011

As said before, anything can happen anywhere. If you want to go by that frame of mind then she should stay locked in her house. Riding in a car is much more dangerous than sitting at a table in a bar.

Tina - posted on 05/01/2011

why was she even in a bar.
You never know what could happen in a bar.
If all she was doing was drinking water why not go to the sink.
I think pregnet women should not be going to bars, not even to dance, you cant control the drunks around you.
Come on your around drunks.
People you dont know or how someone is going to repond

Krista - posted on 02/09/2011

I think the bar probably felt they were damned if they do, damned if they don't. There WOULD be some pregnant women, who if anything happened to them, WOULD sue the bar for letting them be there. Unfortunately, there tends to sometimes be a real lack of personal responsibility with some people.

However, that doesn't make what the bar did right. I mean, are they also going to kick out anybody who's frail? Are they going to refuse to allow anybody with dwarfism into the bar, just in case they get trampled?

I can kind of empathize with them being nervous, in today's lawsuit-happy culture, but they went from a non-existent frying pan into a very real fire.

Lesa - posted on 02/09/2011

Absolutely not. She has a right to be there. It's them who should not serve her. What if she was designated driver? Are they going to make designated drivers wait in the car just to keep them from drinking? Definitely not ok and I would file a complaint against the bar owner.

Toni - posted on 02/09/2011

Jennifer you reminded me I have only once had a drunk (that wasn't with me) fall on me, I had gone out on an evening to a club but had to sit down because I had done something to my knee (that was not unusual I was always injuring my knee when I was younger) and this guy literally fell into my lap - my bloody knee felt like it was going to explode! Yet it didn't stop me going back to bars and clubs with injuries and it certainly didn't make me stop going because I was pregnant, it was the exhaustion that stopped me frequenting bars during my first pregnancy lol!

I have seen fights but there is always plenty of warning - pregnant or not I would move away from a fight I don't want to be hurt because of someone elses temper!

Medic - posted on 02/08/2011

Last time I checked I was an adult and I was that same adult while pregnant. As an adult I believe I was fully capable of looking out for myself and did not need to employ others to do so. I went to bars with my friends and hubby while I was pregnant with both kids. I went to the country bar and danced with my hubby and I went to a regular ol hole in the wall bar to play darts and pool. I have never seen a fight just break out in a bar nor have I had numerous drunks fall into me or hit me. I am probably safer at the bar and I am at my kids school where there is a high probability I will trip over one of the midgets running around. I think she should sue the crap outta them and the next time anyone that supports the bar is pregnant I guess you will be spending 9 months held up in your homes because of all the "what if's"

Christina - posted on 01/30/2011

This reason right here is why I am "Pro-choice" (not getting into the debate on that, just making my point." Either the unborn child has complete rights, or the woman carrying the child does. It can't be both. As a woman and a mother, NO ONE has a right to tell me what I can or can't do, even while pregnant. A pregnant woman has the same rights to go hang out with friends, ect. She has a right to go ANYWHERE in public that she feels like, ect. She has the right to drink, smoke, go on a boat, ect. The company can make restrictions for the safety of their customers (like amusement parks who have hight restrictions and don't allow people who are pregnant or have medical problems ride certain rides) but they do not have a legal right to kick her off the premises.

*Fluffy Bunnies - posted on 01/30/2011

Well, I went to bars when I was pregnant and never came close to being ran over or fallen into. These bars would ask those people who got that drunk to leave. They are the ones who should leave since they are causing the problem. A woman sitting in a bar is not causing a problem. And sugar-high, running around like crazy children are just as "dangerous" to pregnant women which is what I find at the fesitvals and even just at the store. Guess I should lock myself up in my home lol.

Jennifer - posted on 01/30/2011

it doesn't even have to be a violent bar. when people get drunk they easily fall over or stumble when they walk. that in itself is a danger if they fall on her, which would be more likely to happen there than at any carnival.

Johnny - posted on 01/29/2011

Statistically, I'd suspect that this woman was at greater risk of being in a car accident with another patron from the bar who had been drinking and then chose to drive than she was just sitting in the bar. Why does everyone assume that this was a violent, dangerous place? What type of establishments do you all frequent? I've never seen a fight inside a bar, and I've spent plenty of time there.

*Fluffy Bunnies - posted on 01/29/2011

Nah. If she's sitting and drinking water I'm not sure what all could happen to her. Sure someone could fall into her, but that could happen anywhere. When I was pregnant with my daughter we went to a festival. A child ran through us very quickly and almost smacked into my belly. I saw him and moved, no big deal. I choose to be there. Had he hit my belly or knocked me over I'm sure I would've still be fine, but if someone at the festival gate told me I couldn't come in just because I was pregnant and *something* might happen to me I would've been pissed. I don't get why pregnant women aren't human beings who can make their own decisions.

Schmoopy - posted on 01/29/2011

If the pregnant woman or her baby had had some sort of ill effects from being in that bar, we would all be saying, "That bar owner should have asked her to leave. Why don't people do the right thing?"

It was probably not constitutional, but I understand where the guy was coming from.

*Fluffy Bunnies - posted on 01/26/2011

Exactly, Alexis. And yes, I've seen babies in bars before (ones that served food). She's not a child, she's a grown woman who can decide when and where she wants to go.

Alexis - posted on 01/26/2011

I went to the local bar with my hubby up to nine months pregnant. All I had was water or juice and played pool and darts with my hubby and friends. With their logic nobody can be inside their bar because if something happened to them it would be the bar's responsibility. How does this make sense when they serve alcohol and then they drive home? I understand not serving alcohol to the woman but kicking her out? Yes I agree that a lawsuit is coming.

Jennifer - posted on 01/26/2011

i don't see this as being anything about the woman, but rather being for the safety of her unborn child. how many kids or babies do you see in a bar? i personally have never seen it, and there's a reason for that. i can completely understand treating a pregnant woman as you would anyone bringing a child.

*Fluffy Bunnies - posted on 01/17/2011

Many people pointed out that the bar must've been crowded or rowdy. I was just confused as to why everyone thinks that. Here's something I just read about how society treats pregnant women and women in general.
http://www.rhrealitycheck.org/blog/2011/...
This specific incident was pointed out in the article.
"There are certain things for which you are not able to discriminate against someone, and one is their gender," Ed Yohnka, an American Civil Liberties Union spokesman, told the Tribune. "And only women can have babies. You can't discriminate against a pregnant person.""
So no, they can't kick her out just for being pregnant.

Mary Renee - posted on 01/16/2011

This is weird because when I was a bartender a lady who had admitted while she was DRUNK that she was pregnant and my boss said I was legally required to serve her because there WAS a lawsuit. The result of the lawsuit was that you could REFUSE to serve a pregnant woman actual alcohol because it was "discrimination"

I cringed, but I was legally require to serve her a freaking tequila shot!

It seems weird to me that this bar would be able to do this when I was forced to serve a pregnant woman alcohol. I thought there already WAS a lawsuit years and years ago.

Carolyn - posted on 01/16/2011

yes Sarah , I agree, as you can see through my statement
"but that doesn make it right to deny entry to a sober person due to pregancy, as i am sure they are not allowed to deny entry to those who are disabled as another example. Defintely sounds like a lawsuit."

I am also aware the article did not say whether or not it was crowded. that portion was in general.... referring to a bar being liable if an intoxicated person hurt her, but not necessarily if a sober one did...

Danielle - posted on 01/16/2011

bars are private property, they can remove whoever they want. it was rude to do so if she wasnt drinking, but not illegal

*Fluffy Bunnies - posted on 01/15/2011

Nothing in the article states that the bar was overcrowded or rowdy. The lady was sitting with a friend and she was drinking water. They had no right to throw her out. If they did they could use that argument to throw out anyone they wanted. They could throw out someone with a physical or mental disability or someone using crutches or a wheelchair. They kicked her out because she was pregnant which is discrimination.

Carolyn - posted on 01/15/2011

well here in ontario, all servers and bartenders have to undergoe a smart serve course before being legally allowed to serve alcohol.

If the servers and bartenders served an intoxicated person, or a person to the point of intoxication, and then that person caused bodily harm to anyone in that establishment, the people serving the drunk person and the bar would be liable for any harm that came as a result of their negligence to monitor their customers intake and cut them off when approaching intoxication.

just as the server or bartender is liable for a person until they sober up. so that means if they let someone get wasted, cab home , that person wakes up drunk and gets in an accident in the morning, the person serving them is on the hook and open to legal action.

i just took the course myself to bartend a special party. I know the same website offers the course to the united states as well.

so , i can appreciate an establishments concern over liability, but that doesn make it right to deny entry to a sober person due to pregancy, as i am sure they are not allowed to deny entry to those who are disabled as another example. Defintely sounds like a lawsuit.

At the same time, if anything did happen to her baby as a result of her decision to frequent a club or bar that is known to be overcrowded, i dont know if she could sue if someone sober bumped into her and knocked her down, elbow on the dance floor, etc. But if a drunk person hurt her, she would be able to take that place for all it was worth.

*Fluffy Bunnies - posted on 01/14/2011

Wow, I'm surprised! She's not a child and doesn't need anyone to keep an eye on her. Would they kick out someone with a broken leg? They could get hurt if knocked over. In fact, *anyone* could get hurt if knocked over or stuck in a fight. So I guess no one should go to a bar lol. Since she is a grown woman I think she can deciede where she does and does not want to be.

Laura - posted on 01/14/2011

At one of our local bars there was a pending lawsuit, years ago, because a bartender refused to serve alcohol to a pregnant woman. The bartender was told that you can not not serve a woman who is pregnant. It is a moral judgment and not a legal one. So the bartender does not technically have a right not to serve her. The pregnant woman has every right to be at the bar.

Rebecca - posted on 01/14/2011

Why is everyone assuming this bar is a violent place? I can honestly say I have never once in my entire life been in a bar where a fist fight broke out.

Toni - posted on 01/14/2011

That is disgusting, it is up to a woman where she goes when she is pregnant bars aren't any more dangerous than going to a shopping mall on a busy saturday or to a football game, if anything happens to her while in the bar it's not their fault unless one of the staff members attacks her, she has chosen to be there and that should be the end of it.

Lacye - posted on 01/14/2011

Personally, she shouldn't have been in there in the first place. You never know what is going to happen when there is alcohol and testosterone running rapid! They should not have kicked her out but made her move to a different part of the place where there were less people around her.

Rebecca - posted on 01/14/2011

That's crazy. I would sue if I were her. Totally outrageous.

Amy - posted on 01/14/2011

I'm not sure of what there rights are, but if the bar does attract a lot of fights then I could see why the owner would do that. If the bar is typically quiet, I don't see why they felt the need.

Danielle - posted on 01/14/2011

If they had a restaurant on the premises why didn't they just ask her to go to that side of the building? I understand why they wanted her to leave b/c you NEVER know when a fights gonna break out or who's gonna get hurt. I've been hurt by a fight in a bar and I didn't even know what was going on till these men I didn't know slammed into me. I'm not quite sure what her logic was going in there? I can't stand to be around drunk ppl if I'm sober. They're annoying lol. When I was pregnant with either one of my children I would have never even thought to go to a bar. But I have had friends that have went preggo and the owner who we all know just keeps an eye on who's around them and what may go on. She'll have them move if there becomes a problem. So I don't think it's right for them to kick her out they could have just talked to her and explained the situation and asked her to stay where they could see her and help if there was a problem.