dyer@vaxuum.DEC (05/19/84)
Good News_____________________________________________________________________ SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - Restaurant booths reserved for ``romantic evenings'' must be available to heterosexuals and homosexuals alike, the California Supreme Court has ruled. The court Thursday let stand, without comment, a state Court of Appeal ruling in favor of two avowed lesbians denied a special `'romantic'' table at Papa Choux's restaurant in Los Angeles. The appeal court on March 21 had overturned a ruling by Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Bruce Geernaert, who had visited the restaurant, looked at the booths and refused to grant an injunction against it. ``We're elated,'' said Gloria Allred, attorney for the two women, Deborah Johnson and Zandra Rolon. ``That ends the issue and speeds up the process of justice. It means this is the law of the state now.'' The couple had reserved a booth for dinner Jan. 13, 1983, but were told upon arriving that ``restaurant policy'' prevented them from using the booth. They refused the offer of a table in the main dining room and left the restaurant. Owner Seymour Jacoby said the booths were specifically designed for ``romantic evenings by heterosexual couples.'' Ms. Rolon and Ms. Johnson filed suit, claiming illegal discrimation. The appeal court said that ``although the briefs suggest that the (restaurant's) policy is intended to protect patrons from acts of intimacy between homosexuals, it clearly could have no such effect.'' ``Further, we are unable to conceive of any conduct that the resaurant could reasonably fear might offend the sensitivity of the most prudent patron,'' the court said. ``The kind of intimate conduct which the briefs seem to fear is not that kind of conduct that is undertaken in a public restaurant in a booth open to public view.'' Ms. Allred said she plans to return to Superior Court to seek a preliminary injunction against the restaurant and also ask for a summary judgment and damages.