A Days Inn employee in Norfolk, Virginia has been fired after a viral video surfaced showing the employee calling a black patron “prison boy.”
The video, which has garnered more than 14,000 views on Instagram, shows the three-minute exchange posted by Joshua October in which the Days Inn employee insulted October.
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The video begins by October asking the desk clerk to repeat what he’d said: “You called me ghetto … I was in prison, what else?”
The Days Inn employee starts laughing and after grabbing his own phone begins to shout back, “come on boy, come on prison boy.”
Shortly after, the employee begins to insult the customer’s appearance, “Look at that little f****** dumb a** hair cut he got. It looks like f****** a mop.”
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October, a Boston-based hip-hop artist with tattoos and piercings told local media that he was in Virginia Beach on April 18 for a tour date. According to October’s Instagram caption, the exchange started after he grabbed yogurt from the hotel.
The caption on October’s Instagram reads:
“Racism and discrimination
“I was beyond blatantly disrespected as a paying guest. The whole reason for his verbal attack on me was all because I went inside the guest breakfast room and took a yogurt (which WAS FREE and there was no sign stating guests are not allowed to take a yogurt). I HOPE people will share this video and tag everyone and anyone because this hate is NOT OK!”
A spokesperson for Wyndham Worldwide, which owns Days Inn, told Yahoo that the employee was fired by the hotel’s owner.
“The comments made by this individual are deeply troubling and are in no way reflective of our brand values or our expectations of franchisees,” the brand said in a statement to Yahoo Lifestyle. “Upon learning of this incident, we immediately reached out to the hotel’s owner, who has since informed us that the individual in question is no longer an employee of the hotel. We extend our sincere apologies to this guest, who will be receiving a full refund from the hotel along with additional compensation as a goodwill gesture on behalf of the brand.”
