Waukesha Skateland Accused Of Discrimination After Denying Teen

WAUKESHA, WI — A Milwaukee woman has accused a Waukesha skating rink of discrimination after her teenager was turned away.

The owner of at the Waukesha Skateland told Laney Anderson in a recorded phone conversation that teenagers from Milwaukee weren’t allowed at night, even with parental supervision. When she asked why, the owner said having Milwaukee teens was “too much trouble.”

"The owner pretty much said that no Milwaukee teens are allowed even with their parents," Laney, who is Black, told WISN-12. She said the rule was “discrimination in our face.”

Ryan Clancy, a white Milwaukee resident and county supervisor, recorded himself, his 7-year-old daughter and his 13-year-old son being admitted to Skateland without question. “They just let us in, even though we’re from Milwaukee. I’m literally wearing my Milwaukee hoodie,” Clancy said in a video.

The owner had tickets out before Clancy's family had money out to pay for admission, Clancy told Patch. In Anderson's phone conversation, the owner said the rink checked IDs, but neither Clancy nor his daughter were carded.

The skate rink's restriction on residency was code for race, and the owner was trying to get around equal opportunity laws, Clancy said. He said he brought his children with him to the rink after hearing Anderson's recording because they felt the policy was unjust.

"I don't see myself stepping foot in Skateland again as long as that person owns it," he said.

“I’m not ready to deal with what happens in Milwaukee,” the owner said in Clancy’s video. The owner said that “shooting and fighting” happened in other Milwaukee skating rinks, but he would make an exception letting Clancy in with just one child.

The owner said if teens from Waukesha County tried to enter, the rink wouldn’t question it.

Anderson’s daughter Mya said she was turned away for her address and that she never saw the rule in writing, CBS 58 reported.

Anderson said she would consider a lawsuit against Skateland, while the owner said he wanted to hear from his lawyer first before making a statement, WISN-12 reported.

Patch has reached out to Anderson and Skateland's owner.