U.S. & World News

PHILADELPHIA (CBS) ― A law firm representing an African-American mother and her four children has filed a Class Action Complaint in Philadelphia federal court against The Valley Club of Huntington Valley. The mother alleges that her children were denied swimming privileges because of the color of their skin.

The Montgomery County swim club, embroiled in controversy after accusations of alleged racial discrimination, reopened to the public Friday while its president defended the accusations, reports CBS station KYW-TV in Philadelphia.

The Creative Steps camp in Northeast Philadelphia had contracted for 65 children at the day camp to go each Monday afternoon to The Valley Club in Huntingdon Valley, camp director Alethea Wright said Thursday. But shortly after they arrived June 29, she said, some black and Hispanic children reported hearing racial comments.

"A couple of the children ran down saying, 'Miss Wright, Miss Wright, they're up there saying, 'What are those black kids doing here?"'

Wright said she went to talk to a group of members at the top of the hill and heard one woman say she would see to it that the group, made of up of children in kindergarten through seventh grade, did not return.

"Some of the members began pulling their children out of the pool and were standing around with their arms folded," Wright said. "Only three members left their children in the pool with us."

Several days later, the club refunded the camp's $1,950 without explanation, said Wright, who added that some parents are "weighing their options" on legal action.

"I was shocked because I live around there and I didn't know people still thought like that," 12-year-old camper Marcus Allen said as he fought back tears.

On Friday afternoon, Sen. Arlen Specter said he asked the Federal Department of Justice to investigate the incident.

"If these allegations are true, then there appears to be a violation of Title II of the Civil Right Act of 1964," Specter wrote to Justice officials. "I would appreciate it if you would review this matter, to determine what action, if any, is warranted by the Civil Rights Division of the Department of Justice."

The Pennsylvania Human Relations Commission is investigating the incident, chairman Stephen A. Glassman said.

"Allegedly, this group was denied the use of a pool based on their race," Glassman said. "If the allegations prove to be true, this is illegal discrimination in Pennsylvania."

The investigation was requested by the NAACP. The state NAACP president, J. Whyatt Mondesire, who serves on the Human Relations Commission, said in the statement that the commission can hold the club accountable if it is found to have discriminated against the campers.

"The law simply does not allow discrimination based on race," he said.

The club issued a statement Thursday afternoon that read:

"The Valley Club is deeply troubled by the recent allegations of racism which are completely untrue.

We had originally agreed to invite the camps to use our facility, knowing full well that the children from the camps were from multi-ethnic backgrounds. Unfortunately, we quickly learned that we underestimated the capacity of our facilities and realized that we could not accommodate the number of children from these camps. All funds were returned to the camps and we will re-evaluate the issue at a later date to determine whether it can be feasible in the future.

Our Valley Club deplores discrimination in any form, as is evidenced by our multi-ethnic and diverse membership. Whatever comments may or may not have been made by an individual member is an opinion not shared by The Valley Club Board."

Club president John Duesler spoke to the media on Friday and defended the allegations.

"We are personally saddened by these allegations that are not true. We never meant to offend anyone here," Duesler said.

Duesler said two other camps were told the same thing; that there were too many kids.

"They turned our club from a safe swim club into an unsafe swim club because of the sheer number of children in our shallow section who are basically unable to swim," Duesler explained.

Wright said that the children were upset, and that she was looking for a psychologist to speak to them next week. Some have asked her whether they are "too dark" to swim in the pool, she said.

"I'm not going to validate this behavior by adults," Wright said. "It's unacceptable. This is preposterous, and I won't stand for it."

Girard College will be hosting the campers from Creative Steps for the summer.

The legal action is brought against The Valley Club pursuant to the federal Civil Rights Act of 1866.

(© 2009 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)