Bluestem has been following the fate of the Grand Gateway Hotel and Connie Uhre, the president and director of its parent company the Retsel Corporation since Uhre shared anti-Native American sentiments on social media.
Uhre was also convicted of simple assault for spraying two protestors in the face with Pledge, as Bluestem noted in Grand Gateway's owner convicted of simple assault; discrimination lawsuits pending.
It's a fine example of the principle of FAFO.
The latest? There's a settlement in one of those lawsuits. On Friday, Shalom Baer Gee reported for the Rapid City Journal in Justice Department and Grand Gateway Hotel reach settlement agreement in discrimination lawsuit:
The owners and operators of the Grand Gateway Hotel and Cheers Sports Lounge and Casino in Rapid City reached an agreement with the U.S. Department of Justice in a discrimination lawsuit, the DOJ announced Thursday.
The parties reached an agreement and signed the consent decree on Wednesday, about 13 months after the DOJ filed a lawsuit against the hotel and lounge’s parent company Retsel Corporation; the company’s president and director Connie Uhre; and her son Nicholas Uhre — a director in the company and the manager of the hotel and lounge.
The lawsuit stemmed from comments Connie Uhre made stating Native Americans would no longer be allowed at the North Lacrosse Street businesses and allegations the hotel followed through and denied Native Americans attempting to book rooms.
Under the agreement, which the federal court for the District of South Dakota must officially approve, Connie Uhre will be removed from any role in the company for four years and the company will issue a public apology for her comments about Native Americans, retain a compliance officer, implement an anti-discrimination policy, undergo training, and develop an outreach and marketing plan targeted to Native American organizations in Rapid City and the South Dakota region. . . .
. . . .There are two other federal lawsuits pending against the hotel. NDN Collective sued the company and the Uhres in March 2022 for allegedly denying Native American's access to the hotel.
On Oct. 25, a Wisconsin family filed a lawsuit claiming the hotel failed to honor their reservations when an employee discovered some of the family was Native American.
Read the entire article at the Journal.
Here's the consent degree:
Consent Decree between DOJ and Grand Gateway Hotel uploaded by Sally Jo Sorensen on Scribd
Photo: A march against the Grand Gateway Hotel in Rapid City. Via Rapid City Journal, photo by Matt Gade/News Digest.
Related posts
- Grand Gateway's owner convicted of simple assault; discrimination lawsuits pending.I
- Irony: After assaulting demonstrators, Uhre released on MacArthur program she scorned
- Digest: news of Rapid City protests and lawsuit against hotel that tried to ban Native people
- Tale of Rapid City hoteliers' anti-Indian pledge makes it to New York Times & Noem's staff
- Rapid City hotel vowing to ban Native Americans offered cheap rates at 2021 Sheriff Mack event
- So SD state rep Mulally, a sheriff & a county commish will host Sheriff Mack in Rapid City
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