BLACK CONCORDIA UNIVERSITY STUDENT AND DOWNTOWN PUB SETTLED COMPLAINT OF DENIAL OF ACCESS

Montreal, September 14, 2009 --- Concordia University student and rugby player Courtney Bishop and Sir Winstown Churchill Pub (SWCP) have reached a settlement over a civil rights complaint of denial of access to the bar on the basis of race.

Last November, Mr. Bishop and a group of friends went to the SWCP on Crescent Street after a rugby game. He was stopped at the door and denied entrance because the doorman considered his baggy jeans to be contrary to the dress code. An exchange ensued and Mr. Bishop and his friends left for another establishment. Within minutes, the group was stopped by police officers who pointed gun at Mr. Bishop and arrested him due to a call from the SWCP that he had a weapon. After searching him, they let him go.

Mr. Bishop mandated CRARR to file a civil rights complaint against SWCP with the Quebec Human Rights and Youth Rights Commission, alleging race-based discrimination. SWPC always alleged that it had done nothing wrong and merely applied its dress code.

The parties reached a settlement on June 15, 2009, without admission of liability, through which as a gesture of mutual conciliation and in the spirit of community building, SWCP made a series of donations to the Concordia Rugby Team to which Mr. Bishop belongs; a Black church, the Westmount Seventh Day Adventist Church; a Black community group in the NDG district, the Westhaven Elmhurst Community Recreation Association and CRARR.

SWCP conveyed to Mr. Bishop its regrets for the inconvenience caused, including the police arrest and welcomes Mr. Bishop and all members of the Concordia University community as patrons.