Moulin Rouge insists waiters must be white

The Moulin Rouge, the legendary Parisian cabaret that attracts dancers and tourists from all over the world, insists its waiters must be white, a Paris court was told yesterday.

The management of the 113-year-old nightclub was accused of racial discrimination after an investigation by church and anti-racism groups and a "sting" operation by a television programme.

The tribunal correctionnel was told that while 100 per cent of the Moulin Rouge's junior kitchen staff were black, all 90 of its waiters and bar staff were white.

The club, which is famous for its cancan dancers and celebrated in a Hollywood movie last year starring Nicole Kidman, denied the charges. It said it had never had a job application from a black waiter who had the experience, diplomas and knowledge of languages needed to work in such a prestigious place.

The case is regarded by SOS Racisme, the main French anti-discrimination pressure group, as an important landmark in its struggle against prejudice in the workplace in France.

The investigation began when the club sent a fax to a Catholic church mission in France, saying it was looking for a "commis de salle [junior waiter] aged 18-22, to work from 5pm to 2am, beginners accepted". A social worker in the mission telephoned a secretary in the personnel office at the club and offered to send her a Senegalese man aged 22 who had just completed a course on how to be a waiter.

According to the prosecution, the secretary said the Moulin Rouge did not employ foreigners in the front of the house. When the church worker objected, she added: "Well, Europeans, yes, but not coloured people. We take coloured people in the kitchen but not in the club."

The Senegalese man, and another young man from the French West Indies, went along for the job interviews all the same and were rejected as insufficiently qualified, despite the fact that the fax had asked beginners to apply.

The church mission reported this to SOS Racisme, which recorded a similar conversation between the social worker and the same secretary at the club. A third conversation was recorded by a hidden camera for the France 3 television station.

When the television programme was broadcast last winter, the Moulin Rouge tried to sack the secretary but was prevented by the labour inspectorate.

The court has postponed its ruling.