Lawsuit: Ritz-Carlton Hotel in Florida Agreed to Guests' Racist Requests

LONDON (April 23) -- The five-star Ritz-Carlton hotel in Naples, Fla., boasts on its website that it offers "impeccable service." Now the glitzy hotel has been accused of being too eager to please, after it allegedly kowtowed to its guests' racist demands.

According to a lawsuit filed by hotel waiter Wadner Tranchant, 40, the Ritz-Carlton honored a British family's request not to be served by "people of color" or with "foreign accents." Naples News reported that the head of the family, Rodney Morgan, made the request during his check-in around Feb. 28. His requests were apparently logged on a computer at the demand of managing director Edward Staros, and accompanied by a note stating that the Rodney Morgan family were "very, very prejudice[d]."

David Alexander, Getty Images

The Naples Ritz-Carlton, shown here in 2004, has been slapped with a lawsuit by a waiter who alleges it acceded to a British family's request not to be served by "people of color" or with "foreign accents."

Tranchant -- a black Haitian who has been working at the hotel for 15 years -- claims that two weeks into the Morgans' stay, his supervisors stopped him from serving them at the beachside hotel's Grill restaurant. That left him feeling humiliated and intimidated, his lawyers argue, causing stress that eventually resulted in medical and psychological treatment. He is seeking at least $75,000 in damages from the Ritz-Carlton Co. for alleged violation of the U.S. Civil Rights Act.

"My client was prevented from waiting on this couple because he was black," said attorney Michael McDonnell. He added that he had nine witnesses willing to testify about the racist request. And the lawsuit claims that this wasn't the first discriminatory demand made by a guest, and honored by the hotel. "Other employees of defendant Ritz also encountered similar treatment on multiple occasions," the complaint reads.

In a statement, the hotel chain said, "The Ritz-Carlton cannot comment on pending litigation but can say the Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company does not allow discriminatory actions by employees or guests."

The 450-room hotel, whose suites range from $449 and to $4,999 a night, is featured on Conde Nast Traveler's 2010 Gold List, which praised it as "very family oriented."