Gender Discrimination? Men Are Suing Women For Not Letting Them Into Women Only Events - Click Here
By Mari Payton, Dorian Hargrove and Tom Jones
Mandy Rodriguez from Escondido is an entrepreneur and a busy mom and step-mom of three kids. Five years ago, Rodriguez said she started a side business as a DJ, going by her stage name “DJ Mandy Mixes.”
In August 2017, Mandy organized what she said was a great, successful event. The event was advertised as "A Girls' Night Out Dance Party" at the SpringHill Suites in Oceanside, open to "ladies 21 and over" and Rodriguez said it sold out five weeks in advance.
“It was the opportunity to bring some women together to network and just do something a little bit different and fun,” she told NBC7 Investigates.
Six weeks later, Mandy said she was shocked when she and the hotel were sued, accused of being sexist towards men.
“I was very stressed out. There was a lot of crying, a lot of tears," Mandy said. "I actually went to a really dark place and it was scary, very scary.”
The lawsuit was filed on behalf of Steve Frye, a man Mandy said she had never heard of before. Frye did not respond to NBC7 Investigates’ request for comment.
According to court documents, Frye tried to enter Mandy's "Girls’ Night Out Dance Party" but was told at the door that he "could not attend." NBC7 Investigates found Frye has filed 26 lawsuits in Southern California for discrimination.
The case involving Mandy settled last month for an undisclosed payment.
Claire Wasserman said she founded "Ladies Get Paid", a group that fights for equal pay and treatment for women.
“We're fighting for equality. The majority of people who hold power, those are men. Those are white men. What we're trying to do is equalize the balance, right? We want to see men and women getting paid equally. We want to see diversity in leadership,” Claire told NBC7 Investigates.
Last August, Claire said she held an event at the Red Door Restaurant in Mission Hills. According to court documents, Rich Allison said he went to the Red Door on the day of Claire’s event and was not given the same drink specials as women. Allison sued the restaurant and Claire Wasserman, claiming in the lawsuit that he was charged a "man tax."
Records show Allison has filed nine lawsuits, including the one against Claire and the Red Door Restaurant, in San Diego County. NBC7 Investigates was unable to reach Allison for comment.
“It's really awful that by me being strong and supporting women that I now have to be seen as like anti-man. That's really shortsighted,” Claire told NBC7 Investigates.
The lawsuit was settled last week for an undisclosed payment.
“They're silencing us and we don't even want to do events in California now,” Claire said
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