A Hampton Inn employee in South Carolina has been fired after being caught on video calling the police on a Black guest who tried to use the hotel’s swimming pool with her children the USA Today reported Tuesday.
In the video, which has been shared across social media, a white hotel employee and two police officers approach Anita Williams-Wright and ask her to prove she’s staying at the hotel.
“I feel it’s discrimination. I have a room here,” Williams-Wright said while holding up her room key. “This lady here is discriminating [against] me. I have a key to get in and I can show you that it works… I have a room here. I don’t have to give my name. I didn’t break the law.”
According to Williams-Wright, the hotel employee didn’t ask anyone else at the pool to prove they were staying at the hotel.
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“There were two white people sitting over there and she said nothing to them,” Williams-Wright said in the video. “She said to me, ‘Oh, because it’s always people like you using the pool unauthorized.’ Who is people like me?”
Williams-Wright refused to provide identification, saying she wasn’t required to because she “didn’t commit a crime.” Officers then ran her license plate.
In a statement to USA Today, Hampton by Hilton’s Gandhi Buckley said the company has “apologized directly to the guest and her family for their experience, and will work with them and the hotel to make this right.”
“We remain in contact with the hotel’s ownership about follow up actions, and to ensure that in the future, their employees reflect the best values of our brand and are welcoming of all,” Gandhi Buckley added.
“Hampton by Hilton has zero tolerance for racism or discrimination of any kind. On Saturday, we were alerted to an online video of a guest incident at one of our franchise properties,” Gandhi Buckley continued. “The team member is no longer employed at the hotel.”
Watch the video below:
