07-12-2015, 11:39 AM
(07-12-2015, 09:46 AM)rfaulk34 Wrote: That would be considered loitering but not necessarily with the same negative connotation that the word carries. Starbucks and other places allow customers to sit and consume their product while doing other things or nothing at all.
Roto brought up an interesting point. Once the consumer has been lawfully served, can they be asked to leave immediately if the proprietor feels their presence would hurt business? Comparing a pedophile and a homosexual isn't on the mark, but each could effect sales in the end. Seems to me, that's the next step in the process. Someone is served, asked to leave, and the debate now becomes...'shouldn't i be allowed to enjoy the product i just purchased, at the place i purchased it'?
It depends on what all the other customers are allowed to do. If everyone else can stay as long as this guy wants to then it would be discrimination to make him leave.
But remember that business owners still have a lot of authority to refuse service to certain people. In fact a business can tell you to leave for pretty much any reason at all unless it is based on race, religion, disability, or some other "protected class". For example I could start a business and put up a sign that says "No Conservative Republican A-holes allowed" or "No Gingers" or "No Browns Fans" and that would be perfectly legal. It is okay for me to discriminate against any of those people.
