Court lowers award to Malmö night club discrimination victims
Sweden’s Supreme Court has reduced the compensation to be paid to four men who were discriminated against by a Malmö night club.
The men, all of whom have “foreign” appearances, were denied entry to the Escape night club in Malmö, while their “Swedish-looking” friends were allowed into the establishment.
The men, who were law students, recorded the incident and later sued the nightclub with support from Sweden’s Ombudsman against Ethnic Discrimination (Diskrimineringsombudsman - DO).
The court of appeal had ordered Escape to pay each man 15,000 kronor ($2,200), but in its ruling, the Supreme Court reduced the damages claim to 5,000 kronor per person.
The ruling wasn’t unanimous, however, as two justices registered dissenting opinions on the matter, believing instead that the men were entitled to the full 15,000 kronor.
The highest court also altered the lower court’s ruling regarding who was responsible for covering the men’s legal costs, and thus released Escape from responsibility for compensating DO for costs incurred in representing the men’s case.
Instead, each party will pay its own legal expenses.
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The men, all of whom have “foreign” appearances, were denied entry to the Escape night club in Malmö, while their “Swedish-looking” friends were allowed into the establishment.
The men, who were law students, recorded the incident and later sued the nightclub with support from Sweden’s Ombudsman against Ethnic Discrimination (Diskrimineringsombudsman - DO).
The court of appeal had ordered Escape to pay each man 15,000 kronor ($2,200), but in its ruling, the Supreme Court reduced the damages claim to 5,000 kronor per person.
The ruling wasn’t unanimous, however, as two justices registered dissenting opinions on the matter, believing instead that the men were entitled to the full 15,000 kronor.
The highest court also altered the lower court’s ruling regarding who was responsible for covering the men’s legal costs, and thus released Escape from responsibility for compensating DO for costs incurred in representing the men’s case.
Instead, each party will pay its own legal expenses.
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