We don’t want black waiters, Britons tell hotel

A British family is at the centre of an astonishing lawsuit in America after telling a hotel they did not want to be served by a black waiter.

Their racist request was entered into the computer of the five-star Ritz-Carlton hotel on checking in and a black waiter was stopped from serving them.

Haitian-born Wadner Tranchant claims he was stopped from serving the family during their recent stay at the beachfront hotel in Naples, Florida, to avoid upsetting them.

Lawyers representing the 40-year-old waiter named the principal family member as Rodney Morgan. Court papers identified the guests as British guests who were registered at the hotel from February 28.

"My client was prevented from waiting on this couple because he was black," said lawyer Michael RN  McDonnell.

He added that nine other staff members at the hotel have said they were told the British family did not want to be served by blacks or anyone with an accent.

According to a lawsuit filed against the hotel, managers breached the Civil Rights Act by stopping Mr Tranchant serving the couple.

The lawsuit says the Morgan family arrived and specified their preference not to be served by "people of colour" or with "foreign accents". Their preference was typed into the hotel's computer system to alert senior staff. The note in the system said the family were "very prejudiced".

Mr Tranchant, a US citizen, was so offended he has sought medical and psychological help, according to the court papers. He is claiming compensation.

His lawyers have cited the Civil Rights Act of 1866, which was passed a year after blacks were freed from slavery following the end of the American civil war, which makes it illegal to discriminate in jobs and housing on the basis of race.

A spokesman for the Ritz-Carlton refused to comment.