Luxury hotel in SP is target of action seeking R$20 million for racism

The organization Educafro filed a lawsuit, this Wednesday (3), against the luxury hotel Tivoli Mofarrej, located in an upscale region of the capital of São Paulo, accusing the company of racism and asking for R$20 million in compensation.

CNN Brasil had first-hand access to the process.

The hotel was ordered in May last month to pay R$20,000 in moral damages to lawyer José Luiz de Oliveira who claimed to have been the target of racism there during an event. But, according to Educafro, the process was not handled correctly in court.

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The NGO (Non-Governmental Organization) is filing an ACP (Public Civil Action) against Pojuca S/A, the group that manages the Tivoli hotel chain.

The petition signed by lawyer Michael de Jesus asks for R$ 20 million, of which R$ 15 million as collective moral damage against the black Brazilian population and R$ 5 million as social damage against collective moral heritage for the "anti-racist constitutional commitment", says an excerpt from the position.

The total amount raised from the action will be allocated to the Fund for the Defense of Diffuse Rights. The ACP also aims to impose an institutional transformation of the functioning of Brazilian luxury hotels. Below are some of the eleven stipulated points;

Top Cifras

Toque agora.

1 É luxo só Ary Barroso

2 Savior Billy Bob Thornton

3 Salmo 107 Samara Lourenço

4 Heaven's Not For Saints A-Ha

- Independent ethnic-racial audit of security and service protocols;
- Institutional anti-racist compliance policy aligned with the Brazilian technical standard NBR ISO 30415:2021 (Diversity and Inclusion);
- Mandatory insertion of anti-discrimination clauses in all contracts with outsourced security, surveillance, reception and service companies; establishment;
- Progressive target of 30% black and brown people in our own and outsourced security, reception and service teams, in 24 months;
- Annual reporting with racial ESG indicators;

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Condemnation
The TJSP (São Paulo Court of Justice) sentenced, last May, the luxury hotel Tivoli Mofarrej to pay a fine of R$20,000 for moral damages to a black lawyer who reported being a victim of racism there.

For Educafro's lawyer, Michel de Jesus, the sentencing decision was not correct, as the word racism was never mentioned in the court's decision.

The sentence was handed down by judge Ana Raquel Victorino de França Soares, from the 1st Special Central Civil Court, at Fórum Vergueiro.

According to the process, lawyer José Luiz de Oliveira was approached by a security guard who claimed that he did not have his credential visible. The case occurred inside the auditorium of a legal event, on September 20, 2024.

READ ALSO: Baixada Santos school accused of racism by student's father

Understand the case
In a report to CNN Brasil, at the time, the lawyer reinforced that he had suffered a completely abusive approach. According to José, the security guard had questioned him about what he "was doing at the event".

"But he did it because, in addition to being black, I was wearing jeans and a formal shirt. That doesn't justify it. And there were very few black people", he says.

After being approached, José began filming the interaction between him and the security guard. In the recording, it is possible to hear the lawyer questioning why he was approached. Upon seeing that he was being recorded, the employee asked for calm, apologized, and said he was just doing his job.

Other side
When contacted by the report, the group that manages the Tivoli Mofarrej hotel stated: "To date, we are not aware of any Public Civil Action filed against the hotel related to this issue." The space remains open.

*With information from Helena Barra

Source: CNN