ACLU sues Pasco County Fair Association, alleges Mexican-Americans charged more for events

TAMPA — Four women tell the same story:

When they called to reserve the auditorium at the Pasco County fairgrounds in Dade City for various receptions, they were told the deposit would be $1,000.

After it was revealed the women were Mexican-American, they said, the deposit shot up to $1,500.

The explanation?

Beatriz Fregoso, who rented the auditorium for her wedding reception last fall, said a fair association employee told her: "When you people have your receptions and quinceaneras, you leave more damages and more messes, so that's why we charge $1,500."

Fregoso, a 28-year-old U.S. citizen, brought the issue to the American Civil Liberties Union, which filed a lawsuit Friday against the Pasco County Fair Association on behalf of three other women who had similar experiences.

"The different pricing flat out violates the law," ACLU Florida cooperating counsel Rebecca Harrison Steele said Friday afternoon at a press conference in Tampa.

The lawsuit, filed in federal court, alleges civil rights violations of state and federal law. The complaint also names another defendant, fair association office manager Virginia McKendree, the woman who talked to Fregoso about the deposit.

Wilton Simpson, president of the nonprofit fair association, said deposit amounts were determined on an ad hoc basis, but ethnicity was never a factor. In setting the deposit amount, he said, organizers considered the size of the event and whether alcohol would be involved.

"It was just the direction of the moment in time. It had nothing to do with quinceaneras," he said, referring to the traditional coming-of-age parties for 15-year-old Latinas.

Simpson said deposit amounts used to range from $500 to $1,500. Two months ago, after receiving a call from the Department of Justice relaying a similar complaint about the amounts, the association approved a fixed schedule: $1,000 for parties with alcohol, $500 for parties without.

"It's not an exact science. We're going to make it an exact science," Simpson said. "But even in the non-exact science way, we did not discriminate."

The plaintiffs in the lawsuit are:

• Maria Garcia, who paid a $1,500 deposit to use the auditorium for her wedding reception in 2006. She said she was originally told the deposit would be $1,000.

• Irma Montelongo, who was planning to use the auditorium for her wedding reception until she was quoted a $1,500 deposit on top of the $1,000 facility rental fee. She chose another venue.

• Araceli Corona, who was charged a $1,500 deposit to use the auditorium for a 50th wedding anniversary party.

ACLU attorneys said they believe more plaintiffs may come forward.

Margarita Romo, a longtime leader in the east Pasco Hispanic community, said she has not heard complaints from others about treatment by the fair association. She said the fair lets her charity, Farmworkers Self-Help, use its hall for its annual Christmas gift distribution.

Simpson defended the association as a dedicated group of volunteers who donate thousands of hours to better the community. He said he wishes the women had approached him with their problem instead of turning to the courts.

"We do not leave things unresolved, and we do not discriminate," he said. "That's not the way the fair operates."

But Fregoso, who first brought the matter to the ACLU, said she instantly felt the sting of discrimination during her encounter with McKendree. Fregoso is not a plaintiff in the suit because she paid the lower deposit amount, but she said the incident cast a pall over her wedding festivities.

"It was the worst feeling you could feel (while) planning the most special event of your life," she said.

Molly Moorhead can be reached at moorhead@sptimes.com or (727)-869-6245.