DoubleTree Portland has fired a security guard and manager who evicted a black hotel guest earlier this week after he took a phone call in the lobby and the guard questioned what he was doing there.
CNN reported: ‘Washington state resident Jermaine Massey was in the lobby of the Portland DoubleTree when a security guard informed him that police were on their way to escort him off the property. The hotel has apologized to Massey and placed two employees on leave because of the incident. In a series of Instagram videos…he is heard asking the guard, “But why? But I’m staying here.” “Not anymore,” the security guard replies. Massey then told a hotel desk staffer that he was taking a personal phone call in the lobby when the guard began to question why he was there. At one point in the videos, he shows the two men his keycard envelope with the room number and date written on it.’
Wrote the DoubleTree in a statement posted to Facebook: “Following an internal review, we have terminated the employment of the security guard and manager involved in this incident. Our hotel is a place of hospitality, and their actions were inconsistent with our standards and values. Our hotel is committed to engaging outside advisors and experts in diversity and inclusion to evaluate our processes, protocols and trainings to ensure something like this does not happen again. We reiterate our sincere apology to Mr. Massey for his treatment this past weekend, and deeply regret the experience he endured.”
Scroll through Massey’s videos in the Instagram posts below.
Wrote Massey on Instagram: ‘Tonight I was racially profiled and discriminated against for taking a phone call in the lobby of my hotel room at the @doubletreepdx @doubletree. The security guard “Earl” decided that he would call the police on me, the exact reason is still unclear to me.
He said that I was a safety threat to the other guests and that I was trespassing and said that I was a disturbance because I took a personal phone call from my mom in a more remote area of the lobby. The manager who actually called the cops, “Luis” actually asked me AFTER he called the cops, what happened? They already had in their minds that they didn’t want me there so I waited for the cops to show up and when they did, I explained my side of the story and they didn’t want to hear it. They asked me if I had personal items in my room (which of course I did) and asked me to go retrieve them. They told me that since the hotel requested me to leave, that if I didn’t I would be considered a trespasser and would be thrown in jail. I complied and cooperated and was not issued a refund for my room. I packed my stuff and went to another hotel. I cannot believe the level of professionalism that this hotel property had with me tonight. It is never ok to discriminate against guests for the color of their skin and to prejudge them based on your own bias against that race. Earl is a disgrace, calls himself a man but calls the Portland Police Dept on a man who was minding his own business in the lobby of his hotel. I had my hotel key in my hand the entire conversation, he knew I was a guest. He wanted to prove a point and did it in the worst way. Not really shocked that this happened but just extremely disappointed. I will be seeking justice. Believe that.’
