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State initiates complaint against hotel where woman was accused of being a man, lawyer says
Ansley Baker says she was thrown out of a bathroom at the Liberty Hotel after a security guard accused her of being a man.
The Massachusetts Commission Against Discrimination has initiated a complaint against the Liberty Hotel in Boston where a woman was allegedly accused of being a man and forcibly removed from a women’s bathroom, according to the woman’s lawyer.
The story first made headlines last month, after a woman wrote in an online review that her girlfriend, Ansley Baker, was confronted by a security guard inside a bathroom at the Liberty Hotel.
“She was humiliated and physically confronted while still inside the stall, pulling up her pants, and forced to show ID to ‘prove’ her sex,” the woman wrote in a since-deleted review.
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The review triggered significant backlash online, with people posting one-star reviews in solidarity with the couple. The couple accused hotel staff of discrimination and a lack of compassion in failing to de-escalate the situation.
In the immediate aftermath, the hotel offered two very different statements to the public about the incident. First, a spokesperson said that the couple was confronted because they were sharing a stall and removed because one of them “put their hands on” a security guard. Multiple women approached hotel security to report that two people were sharing a stall, they said.
But then the hotel released an updated statement. A spokesperson said that the hotel had concluded an investigation and suspended the security guard. They said that the hotel’s general manager would contact the couple and that the hotel would be conducting “mandatory retraining for all staff on inclusive practices and guest interaction protocols, with a particular focus on creating a safe and welcoming space for LGBTQ+ individuals.”
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The hotel also was going to make a donation to a local LGBTQ+ organization, and the spokesperson insisted that the hotel “is and always will be an ally of the LGBTQ+ community.”
Lenny Kesten, a lawyer representing Baker, confirmed to Boston.com Thursday that MCAD had opened a complaint against the owners of the Liberty Hotel and that an investigation was underway.
Kesten also commented on the hotel’s first statement.
“We are determined to get to the bottom of who at the hotel was responsible for issuing a false and demeaning statement blaming the victims of abuse by the security guard,” he told Boston.com.
A spokesperson for Liberty Hotel acknowledged that “there were missteps in our initial handling of this and we are committed to doing everything we can to rectify it.”
“No guest of ours should ever be treated in a manner that is anything other than respectful and welcoming,” the spokesperson said. “We apologize to our guests, and to our community particularly the LGBTQ+ community.”
Justine LaVoye, a spokesperson for MCAD, told Boston.com Thursday that she could not confirm or deny the existence of the complaint about the hotel.
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She referred a reporter to the rules governing complaints initiated by MCAD. In general, MCAD would hold an “investigative conference” with the involved parties within the first 30-45 days of filing the complaint.
In the aftermath of the incident, Baker also filed a complaint with Attorney General Andrea Campbell’s office. A spokesperson for Campbell’s office did not return a request for information Thursday about Baker’s complaint or any potential investigations related to it.
This article was updated to include a statement from Liberty Hotel.
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