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An African-American man has filed a class action lawsuit against Airbnb Inc. after he was allegedly denied accommodation in Philadelphia due to his race. The putative class action lawsuit was filed Tuesday in D.C. federal court.
According to the Airbnb class action lawsuit, plaintiff Gregory Selden is a 25-year-old black male who signed up for Airbnb in March 2015 in preparation for a weekend trip to Philadelphia. He says he signed up for Airbnb after a friend recommended it as a cheaper option for accommodations.
Selden says he set up an Airbnb profile that included a picture of his face and provided information about him such as his name, age, location, sex and education. According to the Airbnb class action lawsuit, he sent an inquiry to an Airbnb host requesting an accommodation during his vacation, but the host replied that the accommodation was not available.
Later the same day, Selden allegedly noticed that the host’s listing on Airbnb indicated that the accommodation was still available. According to the Airbnb class action lawsuit, Selden subsequently set up two new Airbnb profiles to seek accommodation from the same host. For both profiles, Selden reportedly listed his race as “white.” He then used the two fake profiles to request accommodation for the same weekend from the host who had previously rejected him.
“Subsequently, and on the same day in March 2015, the same Airbnb Host agent that originally rejected Selden immediately accepted both of the white imitation Airbnb accounts,” Selden alleges in the racial discrimination class action lawsuit.
Selden reportedly informed the host agent that he had intentionally discriminated against an African-American man and claims the host had no legitimate reason to deny him accommodation. Selden claims the host agent “shamed” him for speaking out against the discriminatory act.
According to the Airbnb class action lawsuit, Selden also contacted Airbnb about his concerns of racial discrimination, but the company reportedly didn’t take any action regarding his complaint.
Frustrated with his experience, Selden posted a complaint on Twitter and the hashtag #airbnbwhileblack went viral as it received thousands of retweets from others who allegedly experienced similar racial discrimination by Airbnb hosts.
Selden filed the racial discrimination class action lawsuit on behalf of himself and others who have allegedly been subjected to discrimination committed by Airbnb’s host agents or representatives. He accuses Airbnb of violating the Fair Housing Act and other federal civil rights laws.
“This action is necessary and increasingly important to protect the civil rights of Plaintiff’s and all others similarly situated that participate in the ‘sharing economy’ in which businesses connect people offering goods and services with other people who want to pay for them,” the Airbnb class action lawsuit states.
Selden is represented by Ike Emejuru and Andrew Nyombi of Emejuru & Nyombi LLC.
The Airbnb Racial Discrimination Class Action Lawsuit is Gregory Selden, et al. v. Airbnb Inc., Case No. 1:16-cv-00933, in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia.
UPDATE: On July 11, 2017, Selden argued that the Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit should not have denied him full-panel review of an order by the district court that deferred his Airbnb class action lawsuit to private arbitration. Selden claimed that sending the case to arbitration prevents him from getting the immediate injunctive relief he asked for in his complaint.
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9 thoughts onAirbnb Class Action Says Hosts Discriminate Against Black Guests
UPDATE: On July 11, 2017, Selden argued that the Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit should not have denied him full-panel review of an order by the district court that deferred his Airbnb class action lawsuit to private arbitration. Selden claimed that sending the case to arbitration prevents him from getting the immediate injunctive relief he asked for in his complaint.
I was discriminated for being gay. 3 of my inquiries were rejected when I said I was going with my boyfriend. Then when I didn’t mention him my inquiry got accepted. It is very disappointing.
This renter is a idiot I would of took young mans money I have bills to pay he should not be in business if hes going to pick and choose
I believe that the law for any rental where the homeowner lives in close proximity to the prospective tenant is that the owner can pick and choose who they want to rent and its not considered a matter of discrimination.
It is discrimination if they had no feasible reason for accepting patronage from a fake profile picture! If you are renting and doing so through a third party, there needs to be repercussions. If you want to be able to discriminate freely, you need to rent on your own accord and not use a public sector to do so.
If it isn’t about race, why do you need to provide a profile picture. I’ll gladly show Id when I get there. Unfortunately, that doesn’t work well for racist when they finally do see you in person. Happened several times on interviews, when my resume didn’t match my perceived race.
Yep. I’m a living witness. Even wrote them about it.
This could also have federal implications, depending in certain elements of this type of case if it fails at the class action level, it should be submitted for federal review. I will be keeping a close eye on this one.
This is similar to Time Shares, which have been around for years. These rentals of a persons residence were questioned and tested in various Court levels years ago, in every Region of this Country. Every decision, including Appellate Court Rulings, affirmed the principle homeowners can lawfully choose to rent, or to share, or not to share. The homeowners reasoning behind his reply to the prospective renter are not subject to judicial review or second-guessing. A positive reply is treated by the Courts in the same way. A Court can not compel a renter to divulge his or her thought processes. This is beyond the authority of any Court in a Democracy, one Federal Appeals Court wrote, rather clearly and strongly, in its decision not to hear a case in point, rendered many years ago. I dont have the Citation any longer, since I thought the issue was settled when the Supreme Court of the U.S. issued a terse Affirmation, without Comment, in upholding the decision of the Appeals Court.