Swim Club Sued for Racial Bias

After a months-long investigation, the Justice Department is suing the Valley Swim Club, alleging race bias.

The Justice Department’s investigation into whether or not the private suburban club broke the law by barring black and Hispanic day campers began in September.

The lawsuit filed Wednesday charges that the Valley Club of Huntingdon Valley engaged in a pattern of racial discrimination.

Fifty-six children from the Creative Steps day camp went to the pool in June, the first day of their pre-paid membership that was supposed to run from June through August. But club members complained and allegedly made racial remarks. The day camp’s privileges were then revoked and its money returned. 

Club officials have said race had nothing to do with the ouster of the mostly black and Hispanic children from Philadelphia last summer. They say there were too many children for the lifeguards on duty, and that many of the campers couldn't swim.

But the Justice Department says that racial hostility prompted club members to ban the children from the Creative Steps camp.

The Valley Swim Club announced that it was bankrupt in November.