Albany High Senior Stands Up to Lucky in El Cerrito Plaza And Wins (For Now)

Earlier this month, Andrew An, a senior at walked into the store at the El Cerrito Plaza after school with a few buddies, hungry for snacks.

Two of his friends were stopped at the door and directed to a sign saying only three students were allowed in the store at a time. Told the limit had been reached, they couldn’t enter. An wrote in an email to Patch that day.

An, 18, said he thinks the only reason they let him continue into the store was because he wasn’t wearing a backpack, so didn’t look like a student.

“I find this unfair and discriminatory,” An wrote, standing up for his friends.

So Patch looked into the incident.

Lucky explains the policy

Alicia Rockwell, the director of public affairs and communications for Save Mart Supermarkets, Lucky’s parent company, confirmed the student limitation policy at the El Cerrito store and said it was new.

Only three students at a time were allowed in the store between 11 a.m. and 3 p.m. on school days, unless accompanied by an adult, Rockwell said. And students were allowed to use only one set of the store’s doors.

The reason for the policy, Rockwell said, is “We do not have enough employees to monitor the action of the students, so we need to monitor for the safety of all.”

ACLU agrees with An

Linda Lye, an attorney with the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) in San Francisco, said the student limit policy may be illegal, treating unequally a protected class or group, in this case youth. 

California's Unruh Civil Rights Act prohibits discrimination by “all business establishments,” she said.

“All persons within the jurisdiction of this state are free and equal, and no matter what their sex, race, color, religion, ancestry, national origin, disability, or medical condition are entitled to the full and equal accommodations, advantages, facilities, privileges, or services in all business establishments of every kind whatsoever,” the  law says in part.

“The Unruh Act is an equal accommodations statute that prohibits business establishments from denying equal services on the basis of protected categories, including age,” Lye said.

It’s reasonable and understandable for stores such as Lucky to take steps to protect their property, but the steps they take must apply to all shoppers, and not single out a group, Lye said. An example of a legal policy would be a requirement that all patrons check their backpacks at the store entrance, she said.

Businesses must have a fact-based justification for a rule applying only to one age group, Lye said, giving the example of car rental companies not renting to people under 25, which is based on data showing that younger drivers have more accidents.

"They'd have to have some kind of basis for treating youth differently," Lye said. 

Lye said the ACLU sent a letter to a Marin County Safeway several years ago regarding the same issue, which was sent to also to Rockwell of Save Mart. (See attached PDF copy of the letter.)

Lucky drops the rule

After Rockwell was contacted by the ACLU, she said she would get back to Patch, which she did a couple of weeks later.

“Based on our findings to date we have removed the signs from all stores that had been using them, which includes the El Cerrito location (seven stores total),” Rockwell wrote. “We will continue to research it further.”

She added: “We will continue to look at ways we can provide a safe, secure and friendly shopping environment for all.”

When An heard of the development this week, he checked back at the El Cerrito Lucky after school. Sure enough, he said, the sign was down, and no one stopped him from shopping.

“I don’t really see it as something I accomplished,” An said. “ It’s just pointing something out.”

Then he paused. “ I think it’s pretty cool,  though, that we got something done.

"I don’t think Lucky’s are jerks," he continued. "Kids shouldn’t shoplift, but at the same time, there are steps to prevent shoplifting that don’t include stereotyping.”