The Constitutional Court ordered two well-known Cartagena nightclubs to pay two women who they denied entry to because of the color of their skin Caracol Radio reported Friday.
Two sisters, Johana and Lena Acosta Romero, filed complaints against the La Carbonera and QKA-YITO night clubs in Cartagena after they were denied entry on December 25, 2004, because the two females are black.
The court’s ruling overturns a lower Cartagena court’s verdict which denied the two financial compensation for the discrimination.
According to reports, the women went out with their friends to celebrate Christmas in the “Zona Rosa” district of the city. After being denied entry to both clubs, bouncers at the front of each club told them they were denied entry because they were black.
“Your white and blonde friends can come in, but the black girls no,” said the bouncer at La Carbonera according to reports. The doorman at QKA-YITO had confessed that the owners prohibited the entry of black people unless they had “a lot of recognition or money.”
The amount the two women will receive is unknown but initial estimates report the figure to be around $30,000.