The $25 million racial discrimination lawsuit filed against Sesame Place alleging one of the theme park’s characters purposely ignored black children has been thrown out.
A federal jury in Philadelphia unanimously voted “no” on Wednesday after determining that SeaWorld Parks and Entertainment, the company that owns the Pennsylvania-based amusement park, was not liable for any wrongdoing, according to NBC 10.
The controversy ignited in July 2022 when a viral video showed an amusement park’s character performer appearing to refuse to interact with or acknowledge two young black children during parades and meet-and-greets.
The video sparked outrage across social media.
It appeared to show the two girls being ignored by the Rosita character from “Sesame Street” after reaching their arms for a high-five.
The character actor even appeared to shake their head in a “no” gesture while passing them.
The New York family’s lawyer, B’Ivory LaMarr, wanted SeaWorld Parks and Entertainment to cover any expenses related to the mental health of the girls, claiming they have “severe emotional distress” due to the alleged treatment.
In total, 150 families contacted LaMarr alleging similar occurrences from performers at the park following the initial video, NBC 10 reported.
Sesame Place quickly released a statement following the incident after facing relentless backlash.
“The Rosita performer did not intentionally ignore the girls and is devastated about the misunderstanding,” the theme park wrote.
“The performer portraying the Rosita character has confirmed that the ‘no’ hand gesture seen several times in the video was not directed to any specific person, rather it was a response to multiple requests from someone in the crowd who asked Rosita to hold their child for a photo which is not permitted.”
As a result of the incidents, Sesame Place announced that all staff would undergo bias training and review its practices to identify any necessary changes.
However, following the attention from the initial video, other families began coming forward with similar claims against Sesame Place, according to NBC 10.
A second video then emerged of a similar incident at the park where a 5-year-old black girl appeared to be snubbed at Sesame Place by multiple park employees dressed as characters.
The girl’s father, Quinton Burns, was the one to file a $25 million class-action lawsuit against SeaWorld Parks, the owner of Sesame Place, for “pervasive and appalling race discrimination” after he claimed his daughter, Kennedi, was ignored.
The lawsuit, which was represented by the Baltimore-based law firm lawyers at Murphy, Falcon & Murphy, claimed Kennedi was ignored by four characters at the June 18, 2022, event at the Pennsylvania park due to her race: “SeaWorld’s performers readily engaged with numerous similarly situated white customers.”
The family involved in the initial video of the two girls being ignored by Rosita was not a plaintiff in the class action suit.
After being found not liable on Wednesday, Sesame Place released a statement thanking the jury for their verdict.
“The facts presented demonstrate that we treat our guests equally. We want every guest at our park to feel welcomed and safe when they visit us and to be able to see and feel aspects of themselves in the experiences we create,” a spokesperson for the park told NBC 10.
“We’re proud of the role we play in creating lasting memories – especially for our youngest guests. We are constantly learning and improving and we’re committed to using our parks to help build a more inclusive experience for our guests.”
