An Airbnb host who listed his home in Atlanta’s affluent Dunwoody suburb as located in a “peaceful white neighborhood” is facing a federal civil rights lawsuit after allegedly canceling a woman’s reservation upon learning she was Black.
In June 2024, Sharona Stewart, an Atlanta resident in her mid-30s, was seeking a long-term rental and submitted a reservation request for a room in a 6-bedroom, Japanese Minka-style home featuring a tennis court, pool, jacuzzi and a serene backyard with a giant sequoia.
According to her complaint filed in U.S. District Court in Atlanta on May 29, her initial communications with owner George Yu Shihfang and two other property managers on the Airbnb platform were “cordial and indicated likely approval.”
But once they learned that she was Black “through specifically race-based questions,” the lawsuit says, Shihfang and the property managers (identified as “Konstantin” and “JustDo” on the platform) “changed their conduct toward Plaintiff,” stopped responding to her and denied her reservation request.
At this point, Stewart dug a bit deeper into the rental listing and noticed that under “Neighborhood Highlights,” the property was described as being in “a Peaceful white neighborhood. …The estate is on 2 1/2 acres in a private oasis. No neighbors around.”
Shocked by that “racially preferential language” and the rejection, Stewart promptly filed a complaint with Airbnb, pointing out the offensive wording in the ad, the lawsuit says. The online rental platform, also named as a defendant in the lawsuit, refused to take action on her complaint and allowed the discriminatory ad to remain on the site.
Complaint Accuses Airbnb of Ignoring Discrimination
Her complaint accuses Airbnb, Shihfang, and the other hosts of maintaining policies, practices, and customs permitting race discrimination against African-American customers and other racial minorities, in violation of federal and state fair housing law and federal civil rights law.
The alleged violations by the defendants include making dwellings unavailable because of race and representing that housing was unavailable “when such housing was in fact available,” and impairing Stewart’s “right to make and enforce contracts on equal terms with white citizens.”
Airbnb “knew or should have known that discriminatory practices were occurring on its platform,” and that “white applicants were treated more favorably,” the lawsuit contends, and faults the defendants for failing to investigate, monitor, and remedy the discriminatory conduct, despite notice of prior incidents, complaints, public reporting and internal data.
Airbnb Removes Host After Lawsuit Becomes Public
A 2015 Harvard Business School study found that guests with “African-American-sounding names” were nearly 10 percent more likely to have their reservation requests rejected by Airbnb hosts than identical guests with “white” names, noted The Independent, which first reported Stewart’s lawsuit.
In 2018, Airbnb changed its policies so that hosts would only see a guest’s profile photo after they accepted a booking. In 2019, the company settled a lawsuit with three Black women who said they had been rejected by Airbnb hosts because of their race. And in 2022, with racially-based rejections continuing to occur with apparently unacceptable frequency, Airbnb suspended nearly 4,000 accounts globally for violating its nondiscrimination policy, the Independent observed.
Stewart seeks a jury trial to determine general, special, compensatory and punitive damages to compensate for emotional distress, humiliation, inconvenience, economic damages, loss of housing opportunity, and to cover her legal costs.
Stewart’s attorney, Bataski D. Bailey, told the Independent that his client was treated in a “grotesque” manner and that he “can’t imagine how many other people experienced the same thing.” He said Stewart hopes the lawsuit will hold Airbnb, Shihfang, and the other defendants “accountable” and deter them from discriminating against others.
In an email, an Airbnb spokesperson said, “Discrimination has no place on Airbnb, and we removed the host from the platform.”
Shihfang, whose Airbnb profile describes him as a real estate developer who now lives in Mexico, could not be reached, the Independent reported.
The defendants have 21 days after being served with the complaint to file a response in court.
