Houma hotel named in federal lawsuit

N.O. plaintiffs claim to be victims of post-Katrina discrimination

By HOWARD J. CASTAY JR.

Eight New Orleans residents filed a class action lawsuit against the Plantation Inn of Houma, Inc., accusing the hotel of impropriety and later kicking them out because of race.

According to the lawsuit, which was filed in U.S. Federal Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana, the plaintiffs say the incident occurred on or about Sept. 1, 2005, during the mandatory evacuation of New Orleans.

Trial Attorney Craig Stewart filed the suit on behalf of Robert C. Boudreaux, Keith Allen Price, Dawn Bennett, Gary Wirick, Patrick Thomas, Danon Smith, Tony Smith and Carol Harrison, all of New Orleans.

The suit names as its defendants the company Plantation Inn of Houma, Inc.; Maya D. Mallick, owner and operator of the hotel, located at 1381 West Tunnel Blvd.; and Virginia Maxwell, manager of the hotel.

Messages left at Plantation Inn for Mallick and Maxwell went unreturned as of press time.

A copy of the suit details the accusations as the group attempted to secure housing at the Houma hotel following Hurricane Katrina.

“The hotel clerk for the Plantation Inn advised Ms. Bennett that two rooms just became available and they were advised that they could stay for two nights.

“Another hotel clerk overheard the two night reference made by the first hotel clerk and suddenly stated, ‘No, they can only stay for one night,’” the suit contends.

However, “While filling out the hotel registration cards the plaintiffs were advised that they should hurry and fill out the hotel guest cards before the manager came out because they were not supposed to be doing this,” the suit continues.

It is also claimed that the rental rate charged was higher than what was quoted and that it was not discovered until the next morning.

Upon discovering this information, the group says they contacted the manager, Maxwell, and “she told them they had to check out because they did not have any rooms available, that the hotel was completely sold out,” according to the lawsuit.

However, during this conversation, a hotel clerk advised the group that “the manager was lying and that there were at least five rooms available,” the suit contends.

The suit further states that, “While packing their belongings, the plaintiffs were approached by the hotel clerk, Ms. Rebecca Lebouef, who advised them that the manager, (Virginia Maxwell) had given them instructions not to rent rooms to blacks.”

The suit asks the court to allow any other African-Americans or handicapped persons who attempted to secure lodging at the Plantation Inn in Houma to be named as part of the suit against the hotel.

And the suit seeks “compensatory damages, including unnecessary travel expenses, humiliation and emotional distress.”

Also, the suit accuses the hotel of “breaching the Fair Housing Act, by consistently discriminating due to its policies and practices of not renting to blacks without cause.”

Robert C. Boudreaux, the lead plaintiff on the suit, also filed a complaint with the Terrebonne Parish Local Chapter of the National Advancement for the Association of Colored People.

Boudreaux writes in his complaint to NAACP Chapter President, also NAACP State District Director Jerome Boykin, his account of attempting to acquire lodging:

“I was initially told by the hotel desk agent on duty, Helen Dardar, and another white female hotel desk agent that ‘no rooms were available.’ I left the hotel lobby and returned to my automobile in disgust, due to not knowing if I would have a place to bathe or sleep with nighttime approaching.

“Dawn Bennett, a neighboring friend whom was a member of our group, went back into the hotel lobby to again inquire about hotel vacancies. She was told by the same hotel desk agents that ‘no rooms were available.’

“Mrs. Bennett presented to the hotel desk agents her business card and proceeded to explain to them that our group consisted of ‘educated individuals,’ ‘that we reside in an upscale area of New Orleans,’ ‘that we are all gainfully employed’ and most importantly, ‘we were NOT LOOTERS,’” Boudreaux’s complaint reads.

“Suddenly, two rooms mysteriously became available. We were told that there were three check outs and two rooms are now available, room numbers 125 and 141. One desk agent (Helen Dardar) stated that we could only stay for two nights and the other agent said, ‘NO, only one night.’

“We were asked by the hotel desk agent (Helen) to ‘hurry and fill out the hotel guest cards before the manager comes out to the desk, because they’re not supposed to be doing this.’ We quickly filled out the cards and proceeded to our rooms.

“I was puzzled as to why we had to ‘hurry and fill out the guest cards,’ which prompted me to contact a personal friend who does government travel in Washington D.C. (Derrick McLean).

“I explained to him what had occurred at the desk and asked that he contact the hotel to inquire about hotel room availability.

“Upon making the call, he was told that ‘rooms are on a first come, first basis.’ He instructed me to go to the hotel front desk in the a.m. of the following morning to extend our stay,” Boudreaux contends.

“I arrived at the hotel front desk at approximately 10 a.m.; I was greeted by the hotel desk clerk (Helen) with some not so pleasant news. She said to me, ‘I have some bad news and you’re going to be upset.’

“She proceeded to say that the general manager (Virginia Maxwell) increased our room rate… We were told by the desk agent (Helen) ‘not to check out of our rooms’ and to ‘leave our belongings in the rooms because the general manager wanted us out of the hotel.’ We left the hotel front desk without incident to have lunch at the Golden Corral,” the complaint letter continues.

“Upon our return, the housekeepers were already in one of the rooms (414) cleaning and told us to get out of the room. Afterwards, Mrs. Bennett called the hotel front desk to speak to the general manager who refused to talk to her and hung up the phone.

“Mrs. Bennett and I went to the hotel front desk to personally speak to the general manager to no avail. She refused to come out of her office to speak to us. We were told by the hotel desk agent (Helen) to report the general manger to the owner of the hotel who was on site at the time. We explained our situation to the owner, which turned out to be waste of our time,” Boudreaux said in his complaint.

“Finally, …we were told by the general manager, ‘there were no vacancies,’ and that ‘the hotel was completely sold out.’ During the course of our conversation, another hotel desk agent (Rebecca Lebouef) informed me that ‘there were five rooms available’ and that ‘the manager was lying.’

“As we were preparing to depart the hotel, there was a strange knock at the door. Upon answering the door, it was the hotel desk agent Rebecca LeBouef.

“She informed us that she had just quit her job because she couldn’t work for anyone such as Virginia Maxwell. She stated that she informed the manager that she would tell us the real reason for not wanting us in the hotel… She proceeded to tell us that all hotel agents were instructed not to rent rooms to blacks as per the general manager, Virginia Maxwell,” the complaint contends.

“Another African American hotel guest by the name of Sam Bailey experienced the exact same problem as we did. He was in room 133,” he wrote.

Jerome Boykin, president of the local NAACP Chapter, said he is “horrified” about the incident. “This kind of treatment has got to stop,” he said.

“And then, my God, this happened in the wake of the biggest disaster this country has ever seen. Justice needs to be carried out,” Boykin said.

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