Class-action lawyer takes interest in P&L dress code

Debate about the Power & Light District’s controversial dress code is moving from City Hall to the Jackson County courthouse.

Standing near the entrance to the KC Live! block, members of an extended African-American family described the discrimination they felt they encountered on a visit to the downtown entertainment district in August. The family is represented by superlawyer Arthur Benson, who says venues inside the district monitor racial composition in an effort to prevent the clientele mix from getting “too dark.”

On Tuesday, Benson sent a letter to the Missouri Commission on Human Rights on behalf of Khiana Leapheart, a 34-year-old Kansas City, Missouri, resident. The letter states that Leapheart and six relatives celebrating a family reunion were prevented from entering Mosaic Lounge because the much-debated dress code was unfairly enforced.

A member of Leapheart’s party, J.D. Bell III, said today that a door attendant at Mosaic asked him to tuck in his shirt. Bell says he complied but was still denied entrance, even as similarly dressed whites were allowed in the club.