British family ‘asked not to be served by US hotel’s black waiters’

A family of British holidaymakers were accused yesterday of telling the management of a five-star Florida hotel that they did not want to be waited on by black staff. Court papers say that the family, whose principal member was named as Rodney Morgan, left the instruction when they checked into the beachside Ritz-Carlton in the city of Naples on February 28. The family, whose other members are not identified, allegedly informed the hotel of their preference not to be served by “people of colour” or staff with “foreign accents”.

A note of their demand was allegedly made on behalf of Edward Staros, the hotel’s vice-president and managing director. “As per Mr Staros this couple is very, very prejudice and do like like [sic] ppl of color or foreign accents,” was allegedly typed into the hotel’s computer system.



A black waiter says in a lawsuit that he suffered discrimination. Wadner Tranchant, 40, a Haitian-born US citizen, who has been at the hotel for 15 years, says that on March 12, the hotel “instructed the serving staff regarding the stated prejudice of the Morgan family” when they made a reservation for banquette seating at the hotel’s Grill Restaurant. Mr Tranchant says he was not allowed to serve the Morgans because he was black. Other staff received similar treatment on many occasions, Mr Tranchant says.

Mike McDonnell, his lawyer, said that nine witnesses would testify that they had been told that the Morgans had not wanted to be served by blacks. “My client was prevented from waiting on this couple because he was black,” he said. The lawsuit seeks punitive and compensatory damages from the hotel for the alleged violation of the US Civil Rights Act. “Plaintiff was humiliated, embarrassed, frightened, intimidated, subject to undeserved shame and suffered severe emotional stress, which is continuing and for which Plaintiff is seeking medical and psychological treatment,” the suit says.