A restaurant in Lima, Peru, has been accused of sexism and ordered to pay a fine for serving women a different menu when they are dining with men.
La Rosa Nautica, a high-end restaurant built on a pier overlooking the ocean, has been hit with a $62,000 fine for its practice of giving women who are with men a gold menu without prices for the fish ceviche or other expensive dishes. The men, however, are served blue menus which provide pricing details for all items.
The popular tourist destination defended the practice as allowing women “to enjoy a romantic evening with their partner, without taking into account the cost of the services.”
The owners of La Rosa Nautica did not respond to a request for comment from The Associated Press but denied that the practice should be considered discriminatory while defending the restaurant before a tribunal.
Authorities found otherwise, ruling that the restaurant has been discriminating against women.
“These small things may seem harmless,” Liliana Cerrón, an official with the agency that issued the fine, said Monday. “But at the end of the day they are the basis of a chauvinistic construct reinforcing differences between men and women.”
The National Institute for the Defense of Free Competition and the Protection of Intellectual Property disagreed with the restaurant’s practice. In a 3-2 ruling last week, it declared that women should have “access to the same list of dishes with prices included.”
In addition to the fine, the restaurant will have to immediately begin offering men and women the same menu with prices, train staff and post a sign clearly stating that discrimination will not be tolerated.
The Associated Press contributed to this report. Via FOX News