Woman thrown out of hotel after staff thought she was a man files lawsuit and claims they smeared her in ‘panicked’ response

A woman is suing a hotel for $10 million after she was allegedly accused of being a man trying to use a female bathroom.

The incident unfolded when Ansley Baker and her girlfriend Elizabeth Victor visited the Liberty Hotel in Boston on May 3, last year. Baker said she knew something was wrong when she heard a bang on a stall door shortly after entering the toilet.

When she emerged from the cubicle, Baker says a hotel security guard claimed staff had concerns the pair were sharing a stall. Baker said Victor had already left the bathroom at this point.

Baker was subsequently removed from the toilet after the guard allegedly accused her of being a man, despite her showing an ID proving her gender.

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In the lawsuit, seen by the Boston Globe, the couple’s attorney has accused the hotel of ejecting the couple “because of what Ms Baker looks like and because they are in a lesbian relationship.”

The lawsuit also alleges that the hotel “panicked” when the couple shared their experience on social media, and knowingly promoted a false version of the incident.

“Instead of simply acknowledging its employee’s discriminatory conduct and apologizing, the Liberty Hotel executives agreed to craft a defamatory statement, knowing it was false, suggesting Ms. Baker and Ms. Victor were kicked out of the Liberty Hotel because they had been engaging in obscene conduct in a stall,” the lawsuit alleges.

Speaking to The Boston Globe, the couple’s lawyer Leonard H. Kesten denied that either woman was ever in the same restroom stall.

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The Massachusetts Commission Against Discrimination raised a complaint in connection with the incident, which the hotel agreed to settle in November with a $10,000 donation to an LGBTQ group, among other measures.

“This outrageous incident at the Liberty Hotel left these two women emotionally shaken, humiliated, and deeply distressed,” chairwoman Sunila Thomas George said in a statement announcing the settlement.

“They were denied services, subjected to demeaning treatment in front of other patrons of the hotel, and falsely accused of actions they did not commit, which is not only degrading, but unjust according to Massachusetts civil rights law.”

In a statement reported in The Boston Globe, the hotel’s general manager Mark Fischer said his employer was complying with the MCAD’s demands.

He said his employer had “apologized several times to Ms. Baker and Ms. Victor about their experience and has spent months working with the Massachusetts Commission Against Discrimination (MCAD) to address what occurred and strengthen its practices.”

“We recognize that they have a right to bring a lawsuit, but we unequivocally deny discriminating or retaliating against them in any way,” he said.

“We deeply regret that our initial statement may have created unintended impressions about the actions of Ansley and Liz.”

The Independent has contacted The Liberty Hotel for comment.