Countywide : Liquor Suspensions to Begin at 5 Red Onions

Temporary liquor license suspensions for five Red Onion restaurants will begin Thursday under a previously announced settlement of complaints that the chain practiced racial discrimination.

Under terms of the settlement, Red Onions in Santa Ana, Riverside and Palm Desert may not sell liquor for the next 10 days, the state Alcoholic Beverage Control Board said, while two others--in Lakewood and Fullerton--will be forbidden to serve alcohol for five days.

Deputy ABC Chief Richard Cottingham, at the board’s southern division headquarters in Cerritos, said suspensions were more severe at the Santa Ana, Palm Desert and Riverside branches because they were responsible for more complaints.

Red Onion attorney Ralph B. Saltsman said the company was not admitting that it discriminated but chose not to fight the action because it would have dragged on and adversely affected the minority community.