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0 pointsumanwizard10y ago0 comments

In the U.S. it certainly is, as long as you're not discriminating against one of a short whitelist of protected classes (homeless isn't on that list). I don't know the law in Italy. Do you, or are you just speculating?

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7 comments · 1 top-level

distances10y ago· 6 in thread

I'm speculating based on the rules in Finland, assuming they would be quite similar in Italy. In Finland a store may not choose their customers based on a broad criteria (such as age, ethnicity, disability, sexual orientation or other reason related to the person). I'm sure being poor would be included in this list. Badly behaving customers can be expelled.

arethuza10y ago

There is a case in the UK at the moment where a bakery has got into trouble for refusing to bake a cake with a pro-gay marriage slogan on it:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northern-ireland-35474167

umanwizardOP10y ago

I see. There is no such rule in the U.S., although a lot of people mistakenly assume there is one. So I thought you might just be mistaken. I'm not sure whether the law in Italy is more similar to the U.S., or to Finland.

thaumasiotes10y ago

> There is no such rule in the U.S., although a lot of people mistakenly assume there is one.

There certainly is such a law. It's not something to be proud of.

> In US law, public accommodations are generally defined as facilities, both public and private, used by the public. Examples include retail stores

> Under United States federal law, public accommodations must be accessible to the handicapped and may not discriminate on the basis of "race, color, religion, or national origin."

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Public_accommodations

umanwizardOP10y ago

What? This is exactly what I said. "race, color, religion, or national origin" is a short whitelist of protected classes, which "homeless" and "poor" are not on.

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VLM10y ago

"There is no such rule in the U.S."

Careful with online lawyering, its illegal not to bake a marriage cake for a gay couple, to cite a recent famous example.

dragonwriter10y ago

That's not a counterexample. That's an example of the short and defined list of prohibited axes of discrimination (the specific law at issue included sexual orientation as an enumerated category protected) discussed upthread in the US and contrasted with the Finnish rule against discrimination on any broad category. So, its not an example of the US having a rule like the Finnish open-ended rule.

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7 comments · 1 top-level

distances10y ago· 6 in thread

arethuza10y ago

There is a case in the UK at the moment where a bakery has got into trouble for refusing to bake a cake with a pro-gay marriage slogan on it:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northern-ireland-35474167

umanwizardOP10y ago

thaumasiotes10y ago

> There is no such rule in the U.S., although a lot of people mistakenly assume there is one.

There certainly is such a law. It's not something to be proud of.

> In US law, public accommodations are generally defined as facilities, both public and private, used by the public. Examples include retail stores

> Under United States federal law, public accommodations must be accessible to the handicapped and may not discriminate on the basis of "race, color, religion, or national origin."

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Public_accommodations

umanwizardOP10y ago

What? This is exactly what I said. "race, color, religion, or national origin" is a short whitelist of protected classes, which "homeless" and "poor" are not on.

1 more reply

VLM10y ago

"There is no such rule in the U.S."

Careful with online lawyering, its illegal not to bake a marriage cake for a gay couple, to cite a recent famous example.

dragonwriter10y ago

1 more reply

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