DoubleTree Hotel in Portland Belatedly Apologizes to Black Guest After Kicking Him out of His Room

Hotel issues an apology on social media and places two employees on leave, after a social media firestorm over an allegation of racial profiling.

By Rachel Monahan

The DoubleTree Hotel in Portland took to Twitter on Friday to issue a belated apology for the treatment a black man received on Dec. 22, 2018, while staying at the hotel.

The Lloyd District hotel faced a social media firestorm after Jermaine Massey, 34, a paid guest, filmed himself being removed from the hotel by a security guard and Portland police. Oregon Public Broadcasting reported on the incident, which the hotel initially called a "misunderstanding." His eviction from his room after talking on the phone in the hotel lobby drew national attention over the Christmas holiday.

On Thursday, Massey's attorneys, Gregory and Jason Kafoury, of Portland-based law firm Kafoury & McDougal, asked the hotel for a full accounting of why hotel security had "approached" him and "interrogated" him.

"Jermaine Massey was, 'calling his mother while black,' from a quiet corner of the lobby of the DoubleTree hotel in Portland," they said in their press release. "Please explain in detail in what manner Mr. Massey was a threat to safety or security."

This morning, the hotel apologized and said it had placed two employees on leave.

The DoubleTree social media statement is below:

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