PHILADELPHIA — A Baltimore family is suing a Sesame Street-themed amusement park for $25 million over claims of racial discrimination, alleging multiple costumed characters ignored a 5-year-old black girl during a meet-and-greet event last month.
The lawsuit comes in the wake of a video, shared widely on social media, showing two other black girls apparently being snubbed by a costumed employee during a parade at the park in Langhorne, outside Philadelphia. Sesame Place apologized in a statement and promised more training for its employees after the video went viral earlier this month.
The suit, which seeks class-action status, was filed in a federal court in Philadelphia against SeaWorld Parks, the owner of Sesame Place, for “pervasive and appalling race discrimination.”
The lawsuit alleges four employees dressed as Sesame Street characters ignored Quinton Burns, his daughter Kennedi Burns and other black guests during the meet-and-greet on June 18. The lawsuit says, “SeaWorld’s performers readily engaged with numerous similarly situated white customers.”
Quinton Burns speaks during a press conference on the lawsuit against Sesame Place. WTXF-TV
The two girls were allegedly waved away by the Sesame Place performer due to racial discrimination, according to the lawsuit. AP
Attorney Ben Crump joins attorney B’Ivory LaMarr and the legal team representing the family of black girls who claim to have been snubbed by Sesame Place characters during a parade last Saturday. Robert MillerDuring a press conference Wednesday, one of the family’s attorneys, Malcolm Ruff, called for transparency from SeaWorld and for the company to compensate the Burns family. The suit was filed in the US District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania.
