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'Boycott Montage Hotels' trends as 'racist' California manager asks Black guests to eat outside in shocking clip

Maria Baietti and her family of three had gone to Montage Resort in Laguna Beach for lunch and drinks when the manager asked them to head outside

A hotel manager in Laguna Beach, California, has come under fire for allegedly telling the hotel's Black guests that they have to eat outside, while other guests continue to do so inside the hotel. The guests, who took to social media to call out the manager's behavior, said that he got "rude and aggressive" while speaking to them.

Timothy Ward is the Director of Guest Services at Montage International that is based in Irvine, California, according to details available. Since the incident, the hotel manager's LinkedIn page, which shows up on the first page of Google search results, has either been deleted or hidden.

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Maria Baietti took to Facebook to narrae the incidents. On the day of the incident, Baietti and her family, that included three others, went to Montage Resort in Laguna Beach for lunch and drinks. She wrote in her post, "We ordered drinks as soon as we arrived and requested to be seated inside. The outside area had zero umbrellas for shade. The manager on duty Timothy told our party we would have to sit outside." She continued, "We all looked around the room to see several tables with large and small groups seated inside being served drinks and food.... and wearing no masks. Several people were also walking into the place wearing no masks. So we asked Timothy the logic in this madness?"

Baietti then wrote, "He then was very rude and aggressive in his tone when we wanted an explanation as to why “we had to sit outside” when a few feet away from us inside people were enjoying food and drinks? I was clear cut discrimination. Our whole group was African American to be very clear (sic)." She then wrote that Ward continued to "unprofessionally escalate the situation", even as she says that they "spoke to him calmly". Baietti then wrote, "He was talking loudly saying he responds to his guest how they respond to him. What manager of any business says that? He asked his assistant manager to go get security for us and demanded that we leave."

Baietti wrote that the experience was "very embarrassing and appalling" and that she would "never ever go back to this place", and that she highly discourages "anyone else giving this resort one dime of your money!" Baietti also wrote that she was filing a formal complaint with the management.

Many took to social media to show support to Baietti and her family. One user wrote, "How many others has Timothy Ward @montagelaguna treated with such disdain? How many others has he verbally spit on? Send a message to @montagehotels that decent people will not stand for this blatant racism by spending your money elsewhere #FireTimWard #BoycottMontage."

A user tweeted, "Ugh. Laguna Beach...again. From the comments “This is just a master class in white fragility. Black people don’t get their phones out to be aggressive, they do it because they get murdered & without video, nobody believes the racism that they live with every day.” @MontageHotels." Another wrote, "@MontageHotels Is this little man the way your company wishes to be represented? He was out of line and totally rude in this video. If he is afraid of black folk then hospitality is not where he should be. #BoycottMontageHotels." One more said, "This gets me angry. #BoycottMontageHotels Racist Montage Hotels." Another said, "Hopefully Timothy is looking for a new job now. #BoycottMontageHotels because this is not acceptable."