February 25, 2000
ST. LOUIS (AP) - The NAACP has called for its members and other organizations to stop doing business with the Adam's
Mark Hotels & Resorts chain, amid allegations of racial discrimination.
Kweisi Mfume, president of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, also criticized the
hotel's parent company for refusing to meet with lawyers for the civil rights group or the Florida attorney general
to resolve a class action lawsuit against the hotel chain.
"That the Adam's Mark is trying to reach a partial settlement with the Justice Department while not talking
to other parties to the lawsuit shows a lack of good intentions by Adam's Mark," Mfume said.
Calls to the hotel chain's parent company, St. Louis-based HBE Corp., were not returned Wednesday.
The U.S. Justice Department charged the entire hotel chain with discriminatory practices on Dec. 16, claiming the
chain charged blacks more than whites, offered them less desirable rooms and required larger security deposits
from them.
That same day, the Florida attorney general filed a motion to intervene in a class action lawsuit charging the
Adam's Mark with discriminating against Black College Reunion visitors in Daytona Beach, Fla., last April. The
NAACP is also a party in the class action lawsuit.
The class action stems from a federal lawsuit filed by five black guests who said the Daytona Beach hotel singled
them out as security risks and required them, but not white guests, to wear bright orange wristbands.
Fred Kummer, chairman and chief executive of HBE Corp., has denied the accusations. He said Tuesday the chain has
been negotiating with the Justice Department to resolve that lawsuit.
In recent weeks, several groups have canceled conventions and backed out of room reservations at Adam's Mark hotels,
citing the discrimination accusations.
HBE Corp. owns 21 large, full-service hotels in 13 states.