Hotel Chain Wouldn't Rent To Black Family, Man Says
National News
The Clarion Hotel in Scranton refused to rent rooms to a black family though it had 52 vacant rooms, and its desk clerk admitted that she would not rent to them because they are black, the family claims in Federal Court.
Eric Davis and his family also sued Choice Hotels International, the world's second-largest hotel franchisor, which owns the Clarion, and also owns Comfort Suites, Econo Lodge, Rodeway Inns, Quality and other inns and hotels.
Davis claims the Clarion Hotel's front desk clerk, Lisa Pierce, told him there were no rooms available when he asked for one on the night of July 12, 2006. He says Pierce sent him to the Comfort Suites in Moosic.
There, Davis says, the clerk told him that hotel was full, but there were rooms available at the Clarion. Davis says the clerk called the Clarion and confirmed that there were 52 rooms available.
Davis says he drove back to the Clarion, where a different clerk told him there were rooms available. He says he saw the Clarion rent a room to three white men. He says Lisa Pierce then appeared from a back room, and he asked her, "Why did you tell me there was no room?"
Pierce told him, "There was a cancellation," according to the complaint.
The complaint continues: "Mr. Davis replied, 'You had 52 cancellations?' to which Lisa Pierce replied, 'I don't have to explain anything to you. Get out of my hotel.' Mr. Davis then asked, 'Did you say there were suddenly no rooms available because I was black?' to which Lisa Pierce replied, 'Yes.'"
Davis says two witnesses outside his family saw this. He names them in the complaint. He demands punitive damages. He is represented by Craig Kalinoski.
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Workers’ Compensation Subrogation of Administrative Fees and Costs
When a worker covered by workers’ compensation makes a claim against a third party, the workers’ compensation insurance retains the right to subrogate against any recovery from that third party for all benefits paid to or on behalf of a claimant injured at work. When subrogating for more than basic medical and indemnity benefits, the Texas workers’ compensation subrogation statute provides that “the net amount recovered by a claimant in a third‑party action shall be used to reimburse the carrier for benefits, including medical benefits that have been paid for the compensable injury.” TX Labor Code § 417.002.
In fact, all 50 states provide for similar subrogation. However, none of them precisely outlines which payments or costs paid by a compensation carrier constitute “compensation” and can be recovered. The result is industry-wide confusion and an ongoing debate and argument with claimants’ attorneys over what can and can’t be included in a carrier’s lien for recovery purposes.
In addition to medical expenses, death benefits, funeral costs and/or indemnity benefits for lost wages and loss of earning capacity resulting from a compensable injury, workers’ compensation insurance carriers also expend considerable dollars for case management costs, medical bill audit fees, rehabilitation benefits, nurse case worker fees, and other similar fees. They also incur other expenses in conjunction with the handling and adjusting of workers’ compensation claims. Workers’ compensation carriers typically assert, of course, that, they are entitled to reimbursement for such expenditures when it recovers its workers’ compensation lien. Injured workers and their attorneys disagree.