Sesame Place, facing lawsuits alleging discrimination, announces new diversity training
BALTIMORE -- Facing multiple lawsuits alleging discriminatory treatment of young guests of color, including one case brought by a Baltimore family, Sesame Place announced it would have employees participate in anti-bias training and enhance its diversity, equity and inclusion program.
By the end of September, all employees will participate in the new training, which will also be incorporated into the onboarding process for new hires, the company said.
"We have already begun engaging with employees, guests, civil rights groups as well as community leaders, and instituted some interim measures at the park while the review proceeds. The actions we are taking will help us deliver on our promise to provide an equitable and inclusive experience for all our guests every day," said Cathy Valeriano, president of Sesame Place Philadelphia.
Civil rights leader Rev. Jesse Jackson is set to meet Thursday with the CEO of SeaWorld, which owns Sesame Place, located north of Philadelphia.
In July, a Baltimore family filed a $25 million lawsuit against the park after multiple allegations of racism surfaced.
Quinton Burns' attorneys shared a video of the moment a Sesame Place character in costume ignored his young Black daughter but gave the White kids attention.
"I am hurt, devastated, me and my wife, just looking at her face," Burns said. "It makes me want to cry every time I see it."
Around that time, a video of two young girls from New York went viral when another character walked past them after greeting white kids moments before.
Civil rights attorney Ben Crump is now representing that family and they are not associated with the Baltimore case.
Initially, Sesame Place said in an extended statement posted on Instagram "the costumes our performers wear sometimes make it difficult to see at lower levels and sometimes our performers miss hug requests."
As criticism continued, the organization followed up the day after saying they apologized to the New York family
"We are taking actions to do better," the organization said. "We are committed to making this right."
