Law student Dyne Suh was looking forward to taking a break from her studies to spend a luxurious, President’s Day weekend with her fiancee and friends in a winter cabin in Running Springs. But her vacation plans were quickly halted when her Airbnb host cancelled on her just as they arrived at their destination. Although Suh originally confirmed her rooming plans prior to making her way there, she was surprised to find that the host no longer wanted to accommodate her for one simple reason: she was Asian American.
After texting her host once more to confirm her reservation for four people, the unidentified person said: “I wouldn’t rent it to u if u were the last person on earth. One word says it all. Asian.” A little shaken, Suh alerted the host that she would inform Airbnb that they were racist, to which the person replied with more political and racist banter, NBC News reports. “Go ahead…It’s why we have Trump…I will not allow this country to be told what to do by foreigners.”
“This is home to me,” Suh said. “No matter how long I’ve lived here, for me to be treated this way just because of my race?” Although Suh was a little discouraged, she ultimately had the last laugh. After alerting Airbnb to the incident, the room service company swiftly banned the host from using its platform ever again and ordered them to pay $5,000. The company then paid for Suh and her friends to stay elsewhere.
In a statement issued to NBC4, Airbnb called the host’s behavior “abhorrent and unacceptable.” “We have worked to provide the guest with our full support and in line with our non-discrimination policy, this host has been permanently removed from the Airbnb platform,” company spokesman Christopher Nulty said.
Airbnb has a pretty impressive track record when it comes to dealing with discrimination. The company has also taken a stand against Trump’s travel ban, by offering free, temporary housing to refugees and other immigrants in limbo. So here’s a lesson to other hosts using Airbnb: either drop the racist act or get banned forever.