A Marriott hotel’s decision to deny a room to a Black man because of the city he hails from raises an important question: Can businesses serving the public legally do that?
The short answer: it depends. A debate is raging online over a viral TikTok video with 2.5 million views about whether a Black guest from Dayton, Ohio — and a long-standing member of Marriott’s loyalty program — has grounds for a civil discrimination lawsuit.
Despite having a reservation at a Courtyard by Marriott in Worthington, Ohio, the man was not allowed to check into his room because a previous guest from Dayton had smoked marijuana on the property.
The hotel clerk went so far as to call the police when the man pushed back against the unusual reasoning.
“He tells me he can’t rent to people from Dayton, Ohio, because somebody from Dayton, Ohio, smoked weed before,” the man told the responding officer in the viral video.
“What does that got to do with me? Not in my name. This is my first time ever coming to this hotel. I [tried to] get him to explain it to me, and he got hysterical about it. I recorded everything, just like I’m recording right now.”
@usbluetrace56 #cops #police ♬ âm thanh gốc – USBlueTracee
Many in the comments felt it was a clear-cut case of racial profiling.
“That’s discrimination,” stated one person. Another wrote: “Let’s be real, we know it’s cause he’s Black from Dayton.”
Though U.S. business owners have the right to refuse service to some customers, under state and federal law — specifically Title II of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 — a business cannot deny service based on race, color, religion, or national origin. But proving that the Marriott employee used Dayton as a pretext for racial discrimination might be challenging—though not impossible. As one put it in the comments:
“They can’t turn him away for his race. And a lawyer will easily make the case it’s cause he’s Black. All it takes is for them to subpoena the hotel records and show they rent to white people from Dayton.”
In the video, the spurned guest politely stood his ground and demanded answers from the police, who he said the clerk initially called on him: “I don’t understand what the problem is, Sir. And if he can explain it better to you, then maybe you can explain it to me.”
According to an update in the comments section of TikTok, the police allegedly told him to file a complaint with Marriott, and he eventually left the hotel to find other accommodations.
“This is crazy,” chimed in one supporter. “Call the corporate office immediately…This is profiling to the max.”
