U.S. targets swim club in rights lawsuit

PHILADELPHIA, Jan. 13 (UPI) -- A Philadelphia-area swim club that allegedly canceled a contract with an inner-city group for racial reasons was sued by U.S. officials Wednesday.

The Valley Club in Huntingdon Valley violated civil rights laws by adopting a policy to ban summer camp program swimmers "in response to racially motivated opposition from the Valley Club's members," the U.S. Justice Department alleged in a release.

The club became notorious early in the summer when employees at Creative Steps, a Philadelphia day camp, said black and Hispanic children had been subjected to racist slurs there. Valley Club officers denied the allegations and said it canceled agreements with Creative Steps and other outside groups because the club was not equipped to handle large groups of children.

But Justice Department officials said the real reason was racial bias, said Thomas Perez, Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Rights Division.

"Denying African-American children entry to a swimming pool because of the color of their skin is a deplorable violation of this nation's civil rights laws," he said.

The club has since filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy, and a state agency in September ordered it to pay a $50,000 fine for racial slurs against one child.