Late last year, in New York City, a young White woman falsely accused the 14-year-old son of a Jazz musician of stealing her iPhone at a SoHo hotel, and a portion of the skirmish was captured on video and posted to social media.
According to CBS News, the 22-year-old young woman who made the false accusation while assaulting the teenager, Miya Ponsetto, has been named in a lawsuit that includes the Arlo Hotel, where the assault occurred.
The lawsuit names Ponsetto, the
Arlo Hotel, and Chad Nathan, the manager on duty at the hotel when the accusation and assault took place. The lawsuit accuses Ponsetto and Nathan of engaging in racial profiling and the hotel of negligence.“Defendants treated plaintiffs differently from other
guests and invitees in a place of public accommodation because of their race…The only difference between plaintiffs Keyon Harrold and Keyon Harrold Jr. and the other guests who were not targeted by defendants Chad Nathan and Miya Ponsetto was the color of their skin,” the lawsuit said, adding that the defendants violated New York City’s Human Rights Law, which prohibits discrimination in public accommodations, housing, and employment.The family’s attorney, Ben Crump, made a statement via his Twitter account.