Prudential Center Class Action Challenges ‘No Outside Food’ Ban

The home of the New Jersey Devils and indoor event arena, the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey, has been hit with a class action lawsuit claiming that the venue’s prohibition on outside food is unfair to those with food restrictions.

Lead plaintiff Evelyn Castillo contends that Devils Arena Entertainment LLC and the Prudential Center discriminate against those who are disabled with metabolic disorders.

“Plaintiff and members of this class need to consume particular types and portions of food to mitigate their disability, and consequently they need to bring this food with them whenever they go out for an extended period of time, such as to an event at a public facility, like a stadium, an arena, a theater, a performance hall, etc.,” states the Prudential Center class action lawsuit.

“Defendants are denying Plaintiff and disabled individuals throughout the United States equal access to the goods and services that Defendants provide to customers that do not have disabilities by imposing eating constraints at the Prudential Center.”

The plaintiff contends that the Prudential Center is in violation of the Americans with Disabilities Act as well as New York civil rights laws.

According to the Prudential Center class action, those with metabolic disorders cannot access events at the indoor arena because of the “No Outside Food” policy imposed by the companies that run the center.

The Prudential Center class action lawsuit says that Castillo, who has diabetes, attempted to purchase tickets to attend a music show at the venue scheduled for September 2019, the Chris Brown Presents Indigoat Tour. However, she did not buy the tickets after she learned of the Center’s no outside food policy.

The plaintiff says that she has been on a restricted diet since 2006 to manage her diabetes. Under her diet, she must carefully measure and monitor her food intake to ensure she does not eat too much or too little or take the wrong amount of insulin.

Castillo says that if she is not permitted to bring her own pre-packaged food with the correct quantity of calories and sugar, she is at risk of becoming weak, dizzy, confused, or even worse.

“Such barrier poses a significant health risk to Plaintiff and Class members. Unless Defendants remedy this access barrier, Plaintiff and Class members will continue to be unable to attend events at the Public Facility,” contends the Prudential Center class action lawsuit.

The Prudential Center class action lawsuit is seeking a court order requiring the venue operators to change their no outside food policy to accommodate those with metabolic conditions.

The plaintiff seeks to represent those with metabolic disorders who have been unable to access the Prudential Center because of its no outside food policy.

The plaintiff is represented by C.K. Lee of Lee Litigation Group PLLC.

The Prudential Center Class Action Lawsuit is Castillo v. Devils Arena Entertainment, et al., Case No. 1:19-cv-03730, in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York.

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