MD Man Sues Sesame Place, Claiming 'Pervasive' Racial Discrimination

LANGHORNE, PA — A Baltimore father has filed a class-action lawsuit against Sesame Place in Pennsylvania a week after a mother posted a video accusing a park character of ignoring her two Black daughters during a parade.

The lawsuit, filed Wednesday in U.S. District Court in Philadelphia, accuses the park of "pervasive and appalling race discrimination" against children who are guests, the Bucks County Courier Times reported.

Last week, Jodi Brown from Brooklyn, New York, called out the theme park in a video posted to her Instagram account. The video shows two 6-year-old girls watching a July 16 parade while Sesame Street character Rosita high-fives other attendees. The girls reach out to Rosita as she approaches, but the character wags her finger and shakes her head as she passes the children.

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In the lawsuit, Quinton Burns and his daughter, Kennedi, both of whom are Black, claim they were discriminated against during a Father's Day visit to the park on June 18, according to the Courier Times.

According to the lawsuit, Burns and Kennedi attempted to participate in a meet and greet at the park featuring employees in costume portraying several different Sesame Street characters. Burns claims the performers "intentionally" refused to interact with them and ignored them and other Black guests in attendance.

SeaWorld Parks & Entertainment, which owns and runs the park, is named among the lawsuit's defendants. If a federal judge certifies the case as a class action, other families and individuals would be allowed to join the lawsuit.

Members of the Congressional Black Caucus and the NAACP have also called to meet with executives of SeaWorld Parks, the Courier Times reported.

The Brown family hired B'Ivory LaMarr of B'Ivory LaMarr Trial Lawyers to represent them, the firm confirmed in a statement. In the statement, LaMarr claims Brown's daughters were "intentionally mistreated."

Last week, park officials said they apologized again to the family, and said they were in contact with Brown and LaMarr. They planned to meet to apologize in person and hear about the family's experience and work toward improving the park.

Among the changes, the park plans to train all workers on how to "deliver an inclusive, equitable and entertaining experience."