A federal lawsuit has been filed against an Airbnb host for allegedly turning away a black guest while advertising his expansive estate as a place to stay in a “peaceful white neighborhood” in Georgia.
Sharona Stewart alleges that Airbnb, two other unidentified defendants, and George Yu Shihfang, a purported “superhost” on the rental platform, “intentionally discriminated” against her.
Stewart claims that Shihfang canceled her appointment for his six-bedroom, six-bathroom home in the lush neighborhood of Dunwoody, which is roughly 16 miles north of Atlanta, after discovering she was a black woman.
According to a federal lawsuit filed on Friday and acquired by the Independent, Stewart, who is in her mid-30s, accused the presenter of posing “racially based questions,” which she alleges caused a change in “conduct toward the Plaintiff.”
The complaint states that she examined more attentively at the listing’s “Neighborhood Highlights” after being allegedly ignored by the host and abandoned by two other property managers. She saw the description, “Peaceful white neighborhood.”The estate is located in a quiet haven on 2 1/2 acres. There are no nearby neighbors, according to the description.
Stewart reported her incident to Airbnb, according to the filing, but the firm “closed [her] complaint, refused to take action, and allowed the discriminatory advertisement to remain.””
“Discrimination has no place on Airbnb, and we removed the host from the platform,” an Airbnb representative wrote in an email to the Independent.Airbnb has been contacted by The Daily Mail for comment.
According to a federal lawsuit obtained by the Independent, Sharona Stweart filed a lawsuit on Friday alleging that George Yu Shihfang, a “superhost” of a six-bedroom, six-bathroom residence in the Atlanta area, “intentionally discriminated” against her.
Stewart apparently saw that the listing’s property information said, “Peaceful white neighborhood.”
According to the lawsuit, the property was marketed as “complete with a tennis court, pool, and jacuzzi” prior to the listing being taken down. One of the thirty Giant Meta Sequoia in the Southeast is located here [sic].
This distinctive Mansard Roof Home was constructed in 1965 around a 250-year-old tree that is native to the Pacific West Coast.
Airbnb was charged in the lawsuit with upholding “policies, practices, customs, or discretionary systems permitting race discrimination against African-American customers and/or other racial minorities.”
“Similarly situated white applicants were treated more favorably,” according to the lawsuit.
The complaint stated, “Defendant Airbnb knew or should have known that discriminatory practices were occurring on its platform.”
Additionally, the filing claimed that despite “notice, complaints, prior incidents, public reporting, [and] internal data,” Airbnb “failed to adequately prevent, investigate, monitor, or remedy discriminatory conduct.”
According to the complaint, “Airbnb materially participated in the transaction by controlling listings, communications, payment processing, platform access, ratings, booking approvals, dispute procedures, and enforcement mechanisms.” “Defendants’ conduct was intentional, malicious, reckless, willful, wanton, and in conscious disregard of Plaintiff’s federally protected rights.”
“Discrimination has no place on Airbnb, and we removed the host from the platform,” an Airbnb representative wrote in an email to the Independent.Stewart said in the complaint that Shihfang and the two John Does violated her civil rights during the tenant screening process by applying “disparate standards.”
In addition, she alleged carelessness, violations of two federal civil rights statutes, Georgia’s Fair Housing Act, and the US Fair Housing Act.
Stewart experienced mental pain, shame, embarrassment, annoyance, loss of housing opportunity, and other problems, according to the lawsuit.
According to the outlet, Stewart is requesting attorneys’ fees and court costs in addition to general, compensatory, special, incidental, consequential, and real damages that will be decided by a jury.
Stewart’s attorney, Bataski Bailey, has been contacted for comment. According to The Independent, Shihfang’s Airbnb profile portrayed him as a real estate developer who resides in Mexico prior to its removal, however The Daily Mail was unable to find an attorney for him.
