Jury finds Sesame Place not liable in discrimination lawsuit

PHILADELPHIA (WPVI) -- A federal jury in Philadelphia found the Langhorne-based Sesame Place not liable in a racial discrimination lawsuit.

The class action lawsuit, which was filed in 2022, claimed the Bucks County amusement park's character performers refused to interact with children during parades and meet-and-greets based on the color of their skin.

Before the lawsuit was filed, a video posted on social media appeared to show a costumed character Rosita snubbing two young Black girls during a parade at the park.

The family involved in the initial video was not a plaintiff in the lawsuit resolved Thursday.

After after the video went viral, other families came forward and were represented by lawyers at Murphy, Falcon & Murphy.

Lawyers later released a different video, which they claimed showed several Sesame Place characters snubbing 5-year-old who was visiting from Maryland.

But the jury on Thursday unanimously answered "no" to 20 questions as to whether the defendants were liable.

Sesame Place has since implemented diversity and inclusion training for its employees.

The lawsuit was seeking over $25 million in damages.

SeaWorld, the parent company of Sesame Place, released this statement on Thursday's verdict:

"We are pleased with the jury's verdict and thank them for their service and attention. The facts presented demonstrate that we treat our guests equally. We want every guest at our park to feel welcomed and safe when they visit us and to be able to see and feel aspects of themselves in the experiences we create. We're proud of the role we play in creating lasting memories - especially for our youngest guests. We are constantly learning and improving and we're committed to using our parks to help build a more inclusive experience for our guests. "