LINCOLN, Neb. — Nebraska Attorney General Jon Bruning has stripped his support from a woman who claimed a landlord refused to rent her an apartment because she’s a topless dancer.
Bruning on Wednesday said he was withdrawing a lawsuit filed by his office last week on behalf of the Nebraska Equal Opportunity Commission against an Omaha real estate company.
The Richdale Group declined to lease an apartment to Charleigh Greenwood after she listed her occupation as a “dancer” at a Council Bluffs, Iowa, lounge.
The lawsuit said such a refusal discriminates against women because labor statistics show women make up 98 percent of dancers in the state and 96 percent of dancers nationwide.
“After further examination I determined that using state resources for this litigation would be inappropriate,” Bruning said. “I don’t believe this case is a priority for the hardworking taxpayers of Nebraska.”
Strippers are not a protected class under the law like race, gender and religion, he said.
“I don’t think government’s role is to force apartment owners to rent property to people engaged in the adult sex industry,” Bruning said.
There was no telephone listing for Greenwood in Nebraska or Iowa.