Florida Resort CEO Punished Maintenance Manager for Hiring Black Employee: Lawsuit
The CEO and manager of a Florida resort are being accused of discriminating against the resort's former maintenance manager for hiring a Black employee, according to a lawsuit.
The lawsuit alleges that former Director of Maintenance of Operations of Harbourside Resort Jacob Hood suffered an injury in September 2018 that caused him to take time off for a worker's compensation claim, Florida Politics reported.
The restrictions reportedly led him to hire the employee—who has not been identified, Florida Politics reported.
He claimed the resort's CEO Justin Alex Hodges and General Manager Dustin Shelton allegedly told him "those are not the type of people" they want working in the hotels, Florida Politics reported. They allegedly said, "they are not the right look."
The lawsuit claimed that they told Hood, who is married to a Black woman, that he has a "weakness for those people" and made derogatory remarks about Black people, according to Florida Politics.
"Dustin Shelton approached the Plaintiff and made derogatory comments about African Americans such as 'ghetto, hood rat, trash, hoodlum, scum and from South St. Petersburg,' which caused tension between the Plaintiff and the General Manager," the lawsuit read, according to Florida Politics.
They allegedly told him he was not allowed to hire Black people and that "white is right," Florida Politics reported.
When Hood tried to report the alleged racist behavior, the lawsuit claimed he was ignored and that no action was taken, Florida Politics reported. He alleged management used his injury and that he hired a Black employee to find a reason to fire him.
Harbourside Resort is located in Indian Rocks Beach, northwest of St. Petersburg. It is part of the New Hotel Collection, which has several hotels in Florida as well as one in Tennessee, according to their website.
A spokesperson for the New Hotel Collection told Newsweek Tuesday evening that a statement would be available Wednesday. This story will be updated with the response.
Other employees have also been sued for alleged racial discrimination.
Three former employees at the Kraft Heinz Food company filed a lawsuit in August alleging racial hostility and discrimination took place at the dairy facility in Tulare, California. They claimed they faced discrimination including the use of racial slurs, death threats and vandalism of their personal property.
A Kraft Heinz spokesperson told Newsweek that as soon as the company launched an investigation as soon as they learned of the allegations.
Tesla has also come under fire after an employee alleged he faced racial discrimination, including being called the "n-word" while working at the company's plant in Fremont, California. A jury ordered the company to pay him $137 million, though the company has tried to downplay the allegations of racism.
