- A hotel employee in
North Carolina is no longer with the company after calling police on a Black guest whose children were using the pool, Hampton by Hilton said in a statement. - The incident prompted outrage online after the guest filmed the encounter with police on Facebook Live.
- The guest accused the employee and the officers of discrimination, noting that none of the white guests using the pool had been asked for proof that they were staying at the hotel.
- The hotel chain apologized in a statement, saying the company has "zero tolerance for
racism or discrimination of any kind." - The Williamston Police Department said in a statement that it's launching an internal investigation over the matter.
A Hampton Inn employee is no longer with the company after she called police on a Black guest whose children were using the hotel's pool.
The confrontation, at a hotel in Williamston, North Carolina, was captured in a Facebook Live video that quickly racked up hundreds of thousands of views.
The guest, who goes by Missy Williams-Wright on Facebook, could be heard in the video telling the employee and two police officers that she felt discriminated against, since other guests using the pool weren't questioned about their presence.
"I feel it's discrimination," Williams-Wright said. "I have a room here and I told you that."
Hampton by Hilton said in a statement the company has apologized to Williams-Wright, and confirmed that the employee no longer works at the hotel. It was unclear from the company's statement whether the employee was fired or resigned.
"Hampton by Hilton has zero tolerance for racism or discrimination of any kind," the statement said. "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."
—Hampton by Hilton (@HamptonByHilton) June 29, 2020
The Williamston Police Department told WCTI-TV in a statement that the officers had been told by Hampton Inn staff that there were two unattended children swimming in the pool and an adult inside a vehicle in the parking lot. The Hampton Inn staff had told the woman to leave, police said, though the woman explained that she was a guest at the hotel.
Williams-Wright told CNN she had been charging her phone and speaking with her mother in the car but was watching the children while they were in the pool.
In the video, the officers could be heard asking Williams-Wright for proof that she was a guest. So she presented her room key but declined to tell them what room she was staying in.
"Why do I have to tell you what room I'm in? What did I do wrong?" she asked, noting that the hotel employee had not asked white guests using the pool for proof.
Police said they eventually used Williams-Wright's car registration to verify her identity and confirm that she was a guest at the hotel.
The police statement acknowledged there was an "outcry of public concern" over the video, and said the department will launch an internal investigation.
Expanded Coverage Module: black-lives-matter-module