Undated photo of Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division. Photo courtesy of the U.S. Department of Justice
Jan. 17 (UPI) — The Justice Department has reached an agreement with the owner of the DoubleTree Hilton Hotel at SeaWorld in Orlando for allegedly discriminating against people of Arab descent by canceling a conference at the hotel, officials announced Thursday.
The hotel canceled the conference to be held by the Arab America Foundation, a non-profit educational and cultural organization, in November 2023, just a week before it was scheduled to begin, which the Justice Department said violated the 1964 Civil Rights Act.
“No one may be denied the right to use hotel facilities because of their national origin,” said Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division,” in a statement released by the Justice Department.
The Justice Department said the hotel’s decision to cancel the conference was not based on any legitimate, non-discriminatory reason. The hotel claimed that it canceled the conference due to security concerns, but the Justice Department said in the release that the hotel had reported no such threats or conference-related risks.
“Rather, the decision to cancel was based on the national origin of the Arab America Foundation’s members and the conference attendees,” the Justice Department said.
The settlement requires the DoubleTree to issue a statement to the Arab America Foundation that all guests are welcome, including members of the foundation and its guests, retain a compliance officer for two years, craft new anti-discrimination policies, and provide related employee training, among other directives.
