Access to a Public Event

[sassylatinachef]

California
A former employer is a co-sponsor for a series of concerts through out the summer located adjacent to their restaurant. The event is public and tickets are sold through the restaurant and also online. The event is staffed mostly with employees of this restaurant and is sectioned off as it is a 21 and older event and you must have a ticket to attend. I was laid off from this company a year ago due to "work force reduction". In June I attended one of these concerts and the owner's of the restaurant sent a manager over to me to ask me to leave the event or they were going to call the police. I left the event. Tonight is the last concert of the summer and I would like to attend. My daughter and friends still work for this restaurant and will be working the event. Do the owner's have the legal right to have me removed from a public event because they are co-sponsors of this event and it is staffed mostly by their employees?

 

[justalayman]

who is in control of this event. Unless the this is a government sponsored event, it is a private event and as such, those in charge can limit attendance as they desire as long as it isn't for an illegal means of discrimination (race, gender, religion, etc.)

 

[CdwJava]

California
A former employer is a co-sponsor for a series of concerts through out the summer located adjacent to their restaurant. The event is public and tickets are sold through the restaurant and also online. The event is staffed mostly with employees of this restaurant and is sectioned off as it is a 21 and older event and you must have a ticket to attend. I was laid off from this company a year ago due to "work force reduction". In June I attended one of these concerts and the owner's of the restaurant sent a manager over to me to ask me to leave the event or they were going to call the police. I left the event. Tonight is the last concert of the summer and I would like to attend. My daughter and friends still work for this restaurant and will be working the event. Do the owner's have the legal right to have me removed from a public event because they are co-sponsors of this event and it is staffed mostly by their employees?

If it is fenced off, on private property, and the event is controlled by the restaurant staff then they can refuse you entry.

If you push the issue and refuse to leave, they can call the police and have you placed under private person's arrest for trespassing. Whether they will do that or not is something i cannot say. Understand that if you push the issue you could be removed from the event and have to answer for a misdemeanor criminal offense.

 

[sassylatinachef]

@Cdw Java - Thanks for the info! Sucks for me - I just want to hang out with my friends! My former employers are bullies and yet somehow they always seem to win. They have a policy that bans terminated employees from their restaurant, yet somehow those employees are allowed on the premise, I was laid off and they won't allow me on the property and have threatened to fire the manager on duty if I am on the property. My own daughter was asked to tell me that I was 86'd from the restaurant. I wasn't sure about the concerts however since they are on public property in an outdoor shopping complex. Anyway, I appreciate your insight.

 

[justalayman]

I wasn't sure about the concerts however since they are on public property in an outdoor shopping complex.

some government entity in your area owns a shopping complex?

I think you are misunderstanding what is public and private. If the government owns it, it is public. If a private entity owns it, it is private. I don't know any shopping centers owned by government entities. All that I know of are privately owned and as such, able to be treated as private property.

So, is this actually publicly owned land or simply private property that the public is allowed to enter?

 

[swalsh411]

Nobody is saying you can't hang out with your friends. You just can't do it on their private property.

 

[Hot Topic]

I suspect you're not as interested in attending the concert(s) as you are in "sticking it" to your old employer.