Racist Airbnb host fined $5,000 for refusing Asian-American guest

Dyne Suh, 26, had booked a mountain cabin in Big Bear, California for herself and her friends via AirBnB in February. The drive to the cabin took hours in the rain and snow, but while driving, text messages came through from the owner cancelling her Airbnb reservation. The host had said to her in a message: “One word says it all. Asian.” Now the Airbnb host must pay up and undergo a college-level course in Asian-American studies.

Dyne Suh and friends drive for hours

The Guardian reports that Suh and her friends had driven for hours to get to the mountain cabin, booked via the online accommodation-sharing platform when Tami Barker, the owner of the property, started sending her text messages. In one message Baker said she wouldn’t rent the property to Suh if she was the "last person on Earth." Yet another told Suh this is “why we have Trump” adding that she wouldn’t allow the country to be “told what to do by foreigners.”

Upset over text messages from Airbnb host

Suh is an American citizen and was outraged and upset by the racist text messages and posted a video to YouTube in April, recounting the experience.

In that video – included later in this article – she tells the whole story and says that it “stings” that despite living in the U.S. for more than 23 years, this kind of thing can still happen. Suh works as a law clerk at the Riverside County Public Defender’s Office and said it doesn’t matter how well she treats others, if you are Asian, “you’re less than human,” adding that people like Barker can “treat you like trash.”

Asian-American course for racist host

As reported by the International Business Times, Suh filed a complaint with Airbnb, who carried out an investigation and banned Barker from their platform. She also lodged a complaint with the California Department of Fair Employment and Housing (DFEH).

Airbnb had in April reached agreement with the DFEH to allow the regulator to test and penalize Airbnb hosts over racial bias.

The DFEH has now ordered Barker to apologize to Suh and also pay $5,000 in damages for her racist behavior. The DFEH also ordered Barker to take a course in Asian-American studies. Barker must also agree to adhere to anti-discrimination laws in the future. Reportedly this is the first Airbnb host to face punishment under the new agreement.

As noted by the Star-Online, the agreement between Airbnb and the DFEH comes after a growing number of complaints that Airbnb hosts regularly refuse guests on racist grounds, leading to the 2016 hashtag #AirbnbWhileBlack.