A Black man was turned away and denied a room at the Courtyard by Marriott hotel in Worthington by the front desk clerk based on longstanding prejudices and racial profiling. The reason cited was that the guest was from Dayton.
Despite having a valid reservation at the property as well as being a loyal Marriott member, the man was denied a room. The reason cited was that a previous guest from the same city as him had smoked marijuana within the hotel’s premises. When the man pushed back against the clerk for what sounded like the most ridiculous reason to deny him checking in, the clerk then called the police.
The incident caught on camera shows the Black man responding to the officer, “He tells me he can’t rent to people from Dayton, Ohio, because somebody from Dayton, Ohio, smoked weed before. What does that got to do with me? Not in my name. This is my first time ever coming to this hotel. I [tried to] get him to explain it to me, and he got hysterical about it. I recorded everything, just like I’m recording right now.”
The video shared on TikTok has so far fetched millions of views and one raging question about racial profiling. A commenter further wrote, “Let’s be real, we know it’s cause he’s Black from Dayton.”
Although U.S. business owners have the right to refuse service under certain circumstances, Title II of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 prohibits hotels from denying service based on race, color, religion, or national origin. These rules are in place to further protect guests from facing discrimination during public accommodation.
‘You Can Explain It to Me’: Black Hotel Guest Who Was Turned Away for the Most Ridiculous Reason, Turns Table On Front Desk Clerk Who ‘Profiled’ Him: A Marriott hotel’s… https://t.co/MvomkO5a9q #RacialJustice #BlackLivesMatter #HotelDiscrimination #BlackVoices #EqualityForAll
— Online Listing (@onlinelisting) March 2, 2026
Additionally, Ohio’s anti-discrimination law also mirrors the already existing federal protections. It strictly prohibits discriminatory practices like these in public accommodations, including hotels and places of stay.
What’s more surprising is that despite the racial discrimination that the Black man faced, he stood calm and composed at the hotel’s front desk. The video further shows the Ohio native demanding answers from the police after the clerk called him. The man said, “I don’t understand what the problem is, Sir. And if he can explain it better to you, then maybe you can explain it to me.”
An update shared on the comment section later revealed that the man had to leave the hotel after the police advised him to file a legal complaint against Marriott. It is believed that he went out to look for different accommodations elsewhere.
One social media user, in response, urged the need to take up the issue with the corporate office of Marriott at the earliest. They wrote, “This is crazy. Call the corporate office immediately…This is profiling to the max.”
In the wake of these developments, many legal experts have claimed that subpoenaing hotel records that show differential treatment of Black and white guests from Dayton could further strengthen the discrimination claim of the individual.
This is not the first case involving allegations of racial discrimination against Marriott. A 2020 case in Portland involved a Black guest asking to sign a no-party pledge. A similar requirement was reportedly not imposed on any other white guests who had put up at the particular Marriott property.
