A white man is suing a nonprofit off-Broadway theater, claiming that he faced discrimination because he paid full price for a ticket to see a play on a "BIPOC night."
The man, composer Kevin Lynch of New Jersey, filed the class action complaint against Playwrights Horizons in New York on Monday (Dec. 22).
In the filing documents, reviewed by Complex, the man said the theater violated city and state law by selling discounted tickets for patrons who are black, indigenous, or people of color.
The BIPOC night was held for a showing of the play Practice on Nov. 6. Lynch said he paid $90 for a full-price ticket, while the theater offered a discount code for BIPOC patrons to purchase seats for $39 each.
According to the theater’s website, Practice “follows a company of dedicated actors, dancers, and performance artists as they lose themselves to the violent and beautiful will of a visionary.”
“Everyone else who attended Practice on November 6 and did not qualify as black, indigenous, or a person of color was likewise overcharged on account of race,” states the lawsuit, which was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York.
The filing accuses the theater of violating the 1866 Civil Rights Act’s ban on racial discrimination in contracts, as well as laws that prohibit setting prices according to the buyer’s race. Lynch’s lawyers are seeking unspecified damages.
The suit was filed by conservative law firm Consovoy McCarthy, which in 2023 won a Supreme Court case that reversed college admissions policies based on race. Edward Blum, a nationally recognized lawyer who has repeatedly fought against affirmative action, facilitated the lawsuit, according to the New York Times.
Complex has reached out to the theater and will update this story if we hear back.
