A Tennessee man said Thursday that he was weighing his legal options after being fired from a Nashville-area hotel specifically for being gay.
"They literally said to me that because of my orientation and my 'alternative lifestyle' that I was not a fit for the hotel," said David Hill, formerly the director of human resources for the former Brentwood Holiday Inn (currently doing business as ARTE' Hotel, with no connection to the Holiday Inn chain). "[Tarun Surti, the hotel's owner] said, 'I don't give a damn. They can sue me. I will not have any of 'the gay leadership role' in my hotel.' And that's a quote."
Mr. Hill has filed complaints with the EEOC and Department of Labor, and is currently in talks with the ACLU, Tennessee Equality Project and the Tennessee Labor Board about pursuing legal action.
"The owner, Mr. Surti, comes from a culture that is not very tolerant to the gay lifestyle," added assistant general manager Leonard Stoddard, who was ordered to dismiss Hill, "and therefore he felt it necessary to have him removed from the workforce at the property."
Now, I'm guessing that Mr. Tarun Surti is Indian. Just an unconfirmed guess based on his name and, well, yeah, the fact that he owns a hotel and a reference to his homophobic culture.
Which brings to light another fact in many hidden and not-so-hidden quarters in the Indiascape: bigotry. Bigotry towards gays, blacks, dark browns, and, of course, women. (With all the requisite qualifications against generality.)
Now I don't know the details of the case. Maybe something was bothering Uncle that day. But it sounds to me as if this fella was laid off simply because of his sexual orientation. Which is wrong. But more troubling is that there is no legal recourse for this fellow.
I am not familiar with gay right's laws, but according to Pam's House Blend, there's not a damn thing this guy can do under current law. Which is why the law must change.
1 comment:
You nailed it, Porc. The poor guy can do nothing, and Uncle is well within the law, especially in Tennessee, where I doubt there are even any local ordinances.
Do you remember a similar instance in the early 90s, when a Cracker Barrel manager in Tennessee fired his assistant manager because she was a lesbian? I actually participated in a "tea-in" that year on Mother's Day, where about 200 of my fellow Pakolis walked into the restaurant when it opened, and did nothing but order ice tea the entire day, from 10 a.m. till 3 p.m. We tipped the waitresses very well (maybe like $150 or $200 per table), but made sure the restaurant made no money that day.
Truth be told, I did order a country ham biscuit, with double country ham, but that's another story.
Fortunately, my 'mos have been working on this issue for a while (see: ENDA). So there is hope. But you're gonna have to deal with Uncle.
(OK...Bizarre Twist of Fate time. The "word verification" word that I have to type to prove that I'm a human being capable of commenting on your blog is "quearso," as in, I'm queer, so? No lie. This shiz is cosmic.)
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