The highly unregulated sharing economy is being attacked again as several reports surfaced Thursday stating Airbnb Inc. is now the target of a class-action suit because of alleged discriminatory practices.
A lawsuit filed Tuesday in Washington, D.C., by Gregory Selden, 25, claims violations by Airbnb of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and other statutes. Selden claims his Airbnb reservation request was rejected by a host because of his race, and after he posted on social media about his experience there were “thousands of retweets from individuals who experienced the exact same disparate treatment from Airbnb host agents, representatives, servants or employees,” according to the lawsuit.
Selden claims an Airbnb host in Philadelphia turned down his request in March 2015, yet the same rental unit remained available on the date he requested.