LOUISVILLE, Ky. -- Jeff Ruby, who owns Jeff Ruby’s Steakhouse at Fourth and Main, spotted OJ Simpson in his eatery on Oaks night and told him to hit the road.

Now Simpson’s lawyer says he'll go after the restaurant's liquor license. He says it's racial discrimination.

“The newspaper just called me, ‘Did you throw O.J. out of the restaurant?’ I says, I’m not saying I kicked O.J. out of the restaurant, but if I did, here’s how I did it," said Ruby.

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Ruby says he told Simpson he wouldn't get served at his restaurant -- because of how Simpson has behaved since the murder trial back in the '90s.

“It shows that this man has a personal bias against Mr. Simpson,” said the Reverend Louis Coleman.

Three protestors in front of Ruby's restaurant Wednesday said the snub wasn't just personal -- it was racial.

“I thought he should have had a bit more class, a little more dignity,” said protestor Austin Lee. “If he didn't want to serve Mr. Simpson, he could have asked him to go to a special room.”

“He has the right to eat in there as much as anybody else,” said Ruben Pulliam.

Attorney Jon Fleischaker says Simpson’s rights are trumped by the prerogative of the business owner: “The law is very clear. Unless for a prohibited reason, like race, like sex, like religion, private business has a right to do business with whomever they want to do business with, and that includes the right not to do business with a person.”

Simpson’s lawyer says the ousting was racially motivated -- a claim Fleischaker says will be tough to prove.

“Anybody in OJ Simpson’s situation who makes that allegation is gonna have to show that other African Americans were treated the same way he was treated.”

I called the Kentucky Human Rights Commission today. They haven't received a formal complaint yet but a spokesperson said the commission is interested in what happened here. So far there hasn't been any action from that group.

As for the liquor license, the Alcoholic Beverage Control wasn't sure if the license could be challenged for a claim of racial discrimination. Most challenges deal with serving underage drinkers or not abiding by the license specifications.

Web story produced by Jay Ditzer.