No. 07-00-287/2024-02 date: 1. 7. 2024.

OPINION

The opinion was issued in the proceedings regarding the complaint filed by the Organization … against …, a hospitality establishment registered with the Business Registers Agency as A.A. Entrepreneur Hospitality Business and Wholesale Beverage Trade …, due to discrimination based on gender and sexual orientation. The complaint stated that on January 29, 2024, the Association … received an electronic message informing them that at the Hospitality Business and Wholesale Beverage Trade …, women were charged almost twice the entrance fee compared to men. Attached to the complaint was a photo of a notice at the entrance of the club stating that on Saturdays, the entrance fee for women was 1,100 dinars, while for men it was 600 dinars, as well as a screenshot from a phone of a communication between A.A. and a female guest of the club. During the proceedings, the Commissioner for the Protection of Equality requested a response to the allegations in the complaint from A.A., Entrepreneur of the Hospitality Business and Wholesale Beverage Trade …, which A.A. received on April 30, 2024. However, by the time this document was drafted, no response had been submitted to the Commissioner. Consequently, the Commissioner made a decision on the complaint based on the allegations in the complaint and the attachments submitted with it. During the proceedings, it was established that the entrance fee notice at the Hospitality Business and Wholesale Beverage Trade …, as provided with the complaint, listed: “Friday 400 din” in the first line, followed by “Saturday Lady’s 1,100 din. Gentlemen’s 600 din.” At the bottom of the notice was the club’s logo. Furthermore, a review of the attachment submitted with the complaint confirmed that A.A., in a phone communication with a female guest of the club, acknowledged that female guests of the hospitality establishment were charged a higher entrance fee. The Hospitality Business and Wholesale Beverage Trade … is registered as an entrepreneurial hospitality business and is required to provide its services equally to all clients, regardless of personal characteristics. There is no justified reason to impose a higher or lower entrance fee for one category of clients over another. The Commissioner issued the opinion that the Hospitality Business and Wholesale Beverage Trade …, operated by Entrepreneur A.A., placed female guests of the hospitality establishment in a less favorable position based on the personal characteristic of gender by setting a higher entrance fee for women compared to men, thereby violating the provisions of Article 6 in connection with Article 20 of the Law on Prohibition of Discrimination, as well as Article 4, Paragraph 1 of the Law on Gender Equality. The Commissioner recommended that the Hospitality Business and Wholesale Beverage Trade …, operated by Entrepreneur A.A., equalize the entrance fee for all guests regardless of their gender or any other personal characteristic and ensure that its future activities comply with legal provisions prohibiting discrimination.

COMMISSIONER FOR THE PROTECTION OF EQUALITY
Brankica Janković