The Louisville Area Office of the EEOC brought this suit against Kentucky Convention Hotel Partners, LLC (doing business as Louisville Marriott Downtown) and White Lodging Services Corp. in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Kentucky in July 2006. The complaint alleged religious discrimination in violation of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Four female, Muslim employees were allegedly denied employment at the Louisville Marriott Downtown when they refused to take off their hijabs at the request of White Lodging Services Corp. In May 2007 Kentucky Convention Hotel Partners was granted its motion to dismiss. Judge Charles R. Simpson, III said that the plaintiffs had shown the court no evidence that KCHP had any control in hiring or management decisions. The case against White Lodging Services Corp. continued.

White Lodging moved for summary judgment on January 5, 2009, but the court denied its motion on March 31, 2010. Judge Simpson rejected White Lodging’s argument that its contract with a third-party housekeeping service insulated it from liability, and found that the complainants had stated a prima facie case of religious accommodation discrimination.

The parties jointly proposed a consent decree in June, and Judge Simpson signed the consent decree on July 2010. In the decree, White Lodging denied wrongdoing, but agreed to not discriminate or harass employees on the basis of their religion, or retaliate against any employees who filed or aided in the investigation of a Title VII complaint. It also agreed to pay each complainant $10,000, for a total payment of $40,000. White Lodging agreed to submit two semi-annual reports and provide training to all of its employees at the Louisville location.

The consent decree lasted for 12 months, and the matter appears to have closed in 2011.

Kevin Wilemon - 05/27/2008
Alexandra Gilewicz - 03/25/2018


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