Sail'er Inn Inc. V. Kirby

Petitioners, holders of on-sale liquor licenses, seek a writ of mandate to prevent the Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control from revoking their licenses because they hired women bartenders, contrary to the prohibition contained in section 25656 of the Business and Professions Code.*fn1 Section 25656 prohibits women from tending bar except when they are licensees, wives of licensees or are, singly or with their husbands, the sole shareholders of a corporation holding the license.*fn2 Petitioners and amicus curiae contend that the code section violates article XX, section 18 of the California Constitution, the 1964 Federal Civil Rights Act (42 U.S.C.A. § 2000e-2), and the equal protection clauses of the United States and California Constitutions.*fn3