Suit: Black family refused from hotel

AUSTIN, Texas (KXAN) - A Taylor family has filed a racial discrimination lawsuit against workers at a West Texas inn.

The lawsuit, filed on behalf of the Griffin family, alleges the manager of the Seminole Inn , in Seminole, Texas , refused to let the family stay at the Inn on a family vacation last summer.

The hotel owner, reached by KXAN Monday afternoon, declined to comment.

The African-American family traveled to Seagraves, Texas for a family reunion and Juneteenth celebration, according to Wayne Krause, legal director for the Texas Civil Rights Project .

Krause said the manager directed his staff not to rent a room to the family once he saw they were African-American. Krause said the man hurled racial slurs at the family and said they needed to contact "Michael Jordan" and ask him to "buy a farm for all the blacks, all the (expletive), because farming is what you people know how to do."

Gwenda Gault made the reservation for the hotel rooms and said the family of 11 drove eight hours from Central Texas to Seminole. Gault said the manager needs to change his ways.

"I can't believe they did this to us," said Gault. "We want to stand up to this kind of racism and let them know it's unacceptable."

The Texas Civil Rights Project filed the lawsuit in Federal Court Monday morning.