Is it legal to ban a customer for eating too much?

[kamen555]

What is the name of your state? NY
Is it legal for the owner of a buffet restaurant to ban a customer for eating too much?

 

[Ozark_Sophist]

Pretty much.

 

[quincy]

If the buffet is advertised as "all you can eat", you may be able to fight the ban.

 

[cbg]

But the bottom line is that no one is required to do business with you. "Eating too much" is not a protected characteristic like race or gender; if they don't want your business they are free to refuse you service.

 

[FlyingRon]

Hutz: Mrs. Simpson, what did you and your husband do after you were ejected from the restaurant?
Marge: We pretty much went straight home…
Hutz: Mrs. Simpson, you are under oath!
Marge: We drove around until 3AM looking for another all-you-an-eat fish restaurant.
Hutz: And when you couldn’t find one?
Marge: We went fishing…
Hutz: Do these sound like the actions of a man who had all he could eat?

 

[Zigner]

If the buffet is advertised as "all you can eat", you may be able to fight the ban.

You're right. It should be advertised as "All one can eat (and you're not the one)."

 

[Fl_renter]

This made me think of a story I saw on the news a while back and found again on MSN

A family was banned from a buffet for wasting food

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/12683893/

This was quoted in the story

Bob Oberbillig, an adjunct professor at the Drake Legal Clinic, says the patron would have no legal case against exclusion from a business unless there are other factors such as racial discrimination or mental health issues.

"An establishment can exclude people if they smoke or waste food," he said. "It's still a private business."

 

[oldman9]

Is it legal for the owner of a buffet restaurant to ban a customer for eating too much?

Check with your state for statutes on banning customers. More likely, you can refuse service to anyone (just like a casino has the right to kick out a customer who is on a winning streak).

HOWEVER, even if you have the LEGAL right to do so, banning a customer in a "all-you-can-eat" establishment is BAD BUSINESS!! Why would you want to do that??? The bottom line is: if, at the end of the year, you find yourself in the red, then you might want to RAISE the price instead of BANNING the customers for coming to your place to do what you advertize to provide!!