A new lawsuit alleges that the Ritz-Carlton hotel in Naples, Fla., recently honored a British couple's request to not be served by "people of color" or by people with foreign accents, according to the Naples News article.  The hotel's 15-year employee, Wadner Tranchant, 40, of East Naples, filed the federal discrimination lawsuit against the hotel's owners and its managing director late Tuesday, the story says. Naples News ran its article on Wednesday, and on Thursday, media outlets including the British TimesOnline and Telegraph followed with their own verisons.  In a telephone interview yesterday, Vivan Deuschl - the luxury hotel chain's spokeswoman - told Hotel Check-In that the family cannot return to the hotel. She also said that "it's pending litigation, so we can't comment on it. However, we do not tolerate discrimination by members of our staff or our guests."  Trenchant - a U.S. citizen who is black and Haitian - charges that he started to serve the couple and their daughter on March 12 at the hotel's beach-side restaurant but was sent away, according to the story. Tranchant's lawyer, Michael McDonnell of Naples, told the Naples News that the waiter "was prevented from waiting on this couple because he was black."  The couple identified in the lawsuit arrived as guests on Feb. 28 and specified their preference to not be served by "people of color" or with "foreign accents," the story says. Notes from the hotel's computer system said as much: "As per Mr. (hotel managing director Edward) Staros, this couple is very, very prejudice(d) and do like like (sic) ppl of color or foreign accents," the story says, citing the lawsuit.  The statement allegedly typed into Ritz-Carlton's computer system had a typo, but McDonnell told the Naple News that he doesn't expect the "like like" to be an issue because about nine other witnesses were told the couple didn't want to be served by people of color or people who had accent.  On the day in question, Tranchant's immediate supervisor prevented him from serving the family due to their stated preference, leading Tranchant to view the hotel as hostile work environment, the story says.  The lawsuit also says other employees of the hotel have "encountered similar treatment on multiple occasions," and that hotel management told other servers about the family's prejudice, the article says.  To report corrections and clarifications, contact Standards Editor  . For publication consideration in the newspaper, send comments to  . Include name, phone number, city and state for verification. To view our corrections, go to
Ritz-Carlton hotel accommodated British guests' racist request, lawsuit says - Hotel Check-in: A road warrior's guide to the lodging landscape - USATODAY.com