A Hampton Inn employee in North Carolina has been fired from her job after she called police on a black woman and her two children who had...
A Hampton Inn employee in North Carolina has been fired from her job after she called police on a black woman and her two children who had been staying at the hotel and were enjoying some time out at the pool.
The woman's termination came after video of her confrontation with the family - filmed by Anita Williams-Wright - went viral over the weekend.
The nearly-10 minute video shows the mother and her two children out at the hotel's pool in Williamston, North Carolina.
Throughout the duration of the video, Williams-Wright shares that she had been on the phone with her mother while her children swam, when the employee came and asked her if she had a room.
She then called the police on the family.
The woman's termination came after video of the her confrontation with the family - filmed by Anita Williams-Wright - went viral over the weekend
Williams-Wright explains to two officers from the Williamston Police Department that the employee is discriminating against her, noting that the policemen were 'harassing' her because they didn't even come to ask her what happened.
When they ask her to prove that she is a guest, Williams-Wright flashes her room key and suggests going to show that the key works.
But once the officers ask for the mother's name, she refuses promptly.
'I have a room here,' she declares. 'I don't need to give my name. I didn't break the law. I know the law.'
Throughout the duration of the video, Williams-Wright shares that she had been on the phone with her mother while her children swam, when the employee came and asked her if she had a room
Williams-Wright explains to two officers from the Williamston Police Department that the employee is discriminating against her, noting that the policemen were 'harassing' her because they didn't even come to ask her what happened
The officers then run Williams-Wright's license plates, which she is fine with.
'I'm here on business with my kids in the pool,' the mother shares to both the officers and to the people watching her video online.
'It was two white people sitting over there and she said nothing to them,' Williams-Wright tells the officers, with the employee heard in the background explaining that she checked the two other guests in.
When they ask her to prove that she is a guest, Williams-Wright flashes her room key and suggests going to show that the key works
Soon Williams-Wright explains that the employee had a reason for asking the mom and her kids why they were at the pool.
The irate mother said: 'She said to me, "Oh, because it's always people like you using the pool unauthorized."
She adds: 'Who is people like me?'
She then turns her critique to the officers, who she said never asked her 'a single word' besides if she had a room at the hotel.
Williams-Wright tells one of the officers that she plans to call internal affairs on him, which prompts the policeman to begin taunting her and tells her to call the police chief.
'If I receive a call I am going to handle it how I see fit,' the officer boasts.
When the mother calls the officer 'racist,' he quickly dismisses the notion.
'Your actions do not prove that,' the mother asserts. 'You can say whatever you want out your mouth but your actions don't prove what you just said out your mouth.'
Williams-Wright tells the officers that they are 'degrading' her in front of her kids.
Williams-Wright tells the officers that they are 'degrading' her in front of her kids
She makes her way to her car before heading back inside the hotel with her children.
But before she makes her way inside, the employee tries to declare that her manager told her that Williams-Wright had to share her information.
The mother goes into the hotel and refuses to speak to the employee, telling the woman that her 'kids are already stressed out.'
'I know I saw his shirt. I saw him leaving earlier,' the employee says about Williams-Wright's son, who is exiting the pool without his shirt.
Williams-Wright asserts that this proves the employee was actually around when they were in the hotel earlier, noting that the woman had been smoking a cigarette at the time.
She goes into the hotel and refuses to speak to the employee, telling the woman that her 'kids are already stressed out.'
The video has been viewed just under a million times since it was shared across platforms.
It has prompted a response from the hotel, who announced that the employee had been fired from the job.
'Hampton by Hilton has zero tolerance for racism or discrimination of any kind. On Saturday, we were alerted to an online video of a guest incident at one of our franchise properties,' Shruti Gandhi Buckley, the Global Head of Hampton by Hilton, said in a statement announcing the termination of the employee.
'We have apologized directly to the guest and her family for their experience, and will work with them and the hotel to make this right. We remain in contact with the hotel's ownership about follow up actions, and to ensure that in the future, their employees reflect the best value of our brand and are welcoming to all.'
The video has prompted a response from the hotel, who announced that the employee had been fired from the job
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