Couple in Westin Book Cadillac Detroit scuffle file federal lawsuit

Mark Hicks, The Detroit News
·3 min read

Mar. 2—A Pennsylvania couple filed a federal lawsuit Monday over their treatment at the Westin Book Cadillac Detroit hotel in March 2019, saying discrimination from hotel staff led to confrontations with police and criminal charges.

Chelsa Wagner and Khari Mosley's suit came days before the second anniversary of their disastrous stay and more than a year after each no longer faced more serious charges.

They checked into the hotel on March 5, 2019, before attending a concert; a clerk who "seemed disapproving" of the relationship between Wagner, a White Pittsburgh-area elected official, and Mosley, who is African American, failed to list both names on the registration, according to the court filing.

That proved problematic later in the evening after Wagner returned to their 10th-floor room to sleep and Mosley went for a drink. Mosley no longer had a key card to access the elevator, and since his name was not on the registration, a front desk clerk refused to give him one, the lawsuit said. A supervisor rejected Mosley's requests to reach his wife or send an escort before telling him to leave, which led to two security officers ejecting him from the hotel in freezing weather.

Mosley requested help and tried to return more than once, but the security officers believed he was a vagrant and "were rude and aggressive as they repeatedly put Mosley out of the hotel, and at several points assaulted and/or battered him," the lawsuit said, adding one called 911 to report the man had harassed staffers and guests and might have had a weapon "because he kept going to his pocket."

Police detained Mosley until hotel staff allowed them to speak with Wagner and confirmed their relationship, according to the suit. En route to being reunited with his wife, Mosley threatened legal action, which he believed led hotel employees to claim they heard a disturbance in their room and return with the police and advise the couple to leave, the filing stated.

Mosley was again detained and led away in handcuffs as Wagner followed and videotaped the encounter. A police officer ordered her off the elevator "and used excessive force by throwing her to the ground and handcuffing her, causing her to suffer multiple bruises, scrapes, and a shoulder injury," according to the suit.

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Wagner, who serves as the Allegheny County controller, was arrested instead of her husband. She was charged with resisting and obstructing police, a felony, and one count of disorderly conduct, a misdemeanor. A mistrial was declared on the first count, and Wagner last year pleaded no contest to the lesser charge.

Mosley was charged with disorderly conduct and another misdemeanor, disturbing the peace, in connection with the hotel incident. He was later acquitted by a jury.

Westin and Marriott representatives did not immediately respond to a request for comment Monday night.

Their lawsuit, which names Marriott International, described the charges as "misguided" and claimed that the couple suffered "fright, shock, fear, humiliation, embarrassment, violation of civil rights, mental distress, physical and emotional pain and suffering, bodily injury, loss of companionship with each other and their children, financial expenses and losses, damage to reputation, and other direct and consequential damages."

It alleges the hotel and staff violated Michigan's Elliott-Larsen Civil Rights Act, which bars discrimination based on religion, race, age, sex and other attributes, as well as federal law prohibiting discrimination in contracts.

"Defendants denied Mosley and Wagner the full and equal enjoyment of the services, facilities, privileges, advantages and accommodations of the hotel because of race and interracial marriage..." their attorneys wrote.

The lawsuit also accuses hotel staff of negligence and "false statements to the police officers with the intention of causing the police officers to restrain Mosley and deprive him of his liberty and freedom."

In court proceedings, staffers have alleged Mosley was unruly the night of the incident.

Prosecutors also have said Wagner interfered with Detroit police. Video of the incident showed her struggling with officers.

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