A hotel located in Portland has recently announced the dismissal of two of its staff on the grounds of racial treatment of a black guest. The guest was seen making a call in the hotel lobby and was asked to leave the premises even though he had provided substantial evidence of staying in the hotel.
Jermain Massey posted a video on Instagram of a security guard at Double Tree Hotel, Portland accosting him while making a call in the lobby. According to Massey he was being racially profiled by the hotel staff as they had even invited the city Police department to escort him off the property. As he tried explaining that he actually stayed on the property, the video shows that the guard said “no more.”
Massey even tried showing the two men his key card envelope which had the date of his arrival on it but his explanation fell on deaf ears. The hotel staff had already invited members of the Portland Police Bureau to escort Massey off the property. The video further shows a Police officer helping Massey with his things out of his room and trying to help him get another hotel, an offer Massey declined.
Double Tree hotel have issued a statement saying both erring staff have been sacked as their actions did not portray any of the hotel’s values or standards. They went on to say they are already working with diversity experts to avoid future reoccurrence. The hotel had earlier claimed the incident to be a result of misunderstanding between Massey and the hotel staff in question.
This event is the latest in a series of high-profile cases related to the removal of black people from business premises. Just last month in Kirkland a black man had been kicked off the premises of a yogurt shop by the police because employees said they were not comfortable with his presence.