A youth football coach in Ohio has filed a federal lawsuit against Marriott, alleging racial discrimination after he was denied a hotel room because of his race. LeRon “Rocky” Turner, a 46-year-old long-haul trucker and Marriott rewards member, booked a four-night stay at TownePlace Suites by Marriott in Beavercreek, Ohio, on Super Bowl Sunday 2026 after his home's heating system failed.
According to the complaint, Turner arrived at the hotel with his partner and two children, only to be told his reservation had been cancelled. When he asked for an explanation, the front desk manager allegedly said that “you people” were problem guests who liked to “smoke weed,” “drink,” and “do drugs.” Turner claims he was humiliated and had to explain to his children that they were turned away because of their race.
Turner was forced to book a smaller, less comfortable, and more expensive room elsewhere. His attorney, Jacob Davis, stated: “It hurts to even think about that day and the humiliation that I felt in not being able to provide a hotel room to my family for no other reason than the color of my skin.”
The lawsuit, filed in Dayton federal court, seeks damages for violation of the Civil Rights Act. Co-counsel Damek Mitchell called the treatment “unacceptable” and “precisely the type of discrimination which the Civil Rights Acts were passed to prevent.”
Beavercreek, where the hotel is located, has a Black population of 2-3%, while Dayton is 40% Black. When contacted by The Independent, an employee at the hotel said it would be “no problem” for a local to book a room there.
