Philadelphia swim club discrimination case reaches settlement

PHILADELPHIA (AP) - A recently settled racial discrimination lawsuit involving dozens of Hispanic and black Philadelphia children who said they were shunned by a swim club in an overwhelmingly white suburban neighborhood includes an unusual provision...

Adam Howard

Aug 17, 2012

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — A recently settled racial discrimination lawsuit involving dozens of Hispanic and black Philadelphia children who said they were shunned by a swim club in an overwhelmingly white suburban neighborhood includes an unusual provision that aims to heal the wounds caused by the three-year-ordeal.

Attorneys said Friday many parents and children from the Creative Steps day camp in Philadelphia and The Valley Club in suburban Montgomery County are looking forward to planning activities together. The settlement calls for $65,000 to be set aside to be used on joint activities.

Club officials canceled a 2009 contract with the day camp after one day and said they didn’t have enough lifeguards for the children, who reported hearing racial slurs at the club’s pool.

The Huntingdon Valley club later filed for bankruptcy.