Plaintiffs and Airbnb have reached a settlement in a lawsuit, filed in March 2017, alleging that Airbnb’s policies allowed its hosts to discriminate against African Americans and deny them access to accommodations by using guests’ photographs and full names to review reservation requests in violation of Oregon’s Public Accommodation laws. Plaintiffs Ebony Price and Carlotta Franklin are represented by attorney Nick Kahl and Stoll Berne attorney Joshua Ross.

In 2016, Airbnb publicly committed to take steps to combat bias and discrimination by requiring all hosts to accept a non-discrimination pledge and creating a permanent anti-discrimination team focused on enhancing enforcement standards and making product improvements. Plaintiffs filed their lawsuit in March 2017. At the time the lawsuit was filed, Airbnb allowed profile photos and names to be displayed to hosts during the booking process. In October 2018, Airbnb announced that it would no longer allow guest profile photos to be displayed to hosts prior to the acceptance of a booking request by a host.

“When we filed this lawsuit, our client Pat Harrington put her name on this lawsuit because she believed that her voice could help bring about positive social change,” Nick Kahl, attorney for Plaintiffs noted. “We were honored to have known and represented Pat, who sadly passed in early 2018, and we know she would be very proud of the results of the lawsuit.”

As part of the settlement announced today, Airbnb has agreed to continue implementation of its 2018 changes relating to the use of profile photographs incident to the booking process. In addition, Airbnb has agreed to review and update the way profile names are displayed to hosts as part of the booking process. In a separate public statement, Airbnb stated that: “Our mission is to create a world where anyone can belong anywhere and we are always working to fight bias and discrimination. We have made strides and are committed to continuous review and improvements to ensure our community is diverse and inclusive.”

Josh Ross of Stoll Berne, counsel for plaintiffs, said “we are pleased that Airbnb worked collaboratively with us to find real solutions to address the concerns raised by the lawsuit. The changes Airbnb has agreed to implement will ultimately reduce, and hopefully someday eliminate, discrimination on the platform. Airbnb can be proud to serve as a model for other businesses operating in the shared economy.”

Plaintiffs Ebony Price and Carlotta Franklin stated, “Civil rights leaders have fought for equality by seeking to eliminate bias in accommodations for decades. We believe this is another important step in that fight in the context of the sharing economy. We are proud to have been part of this effort and we thank our lawyers and Airbnb for their continued efforts to combat discrimination.”

A Minnesota federal judge recently denied defendants’ motion to dismiss a securities class action against CenturyLink and several of its senior executives. The court found that plaintiffs’ complaint sufficiently alleges that defendants knowingly or recklessly concealed CenturyLink’s years-long practice of “cramming” customer accounts by adding services without customers’ authorization, deceiving customers about the prices they would be charged, and misquoting prices by failing to disclose that service “bundles” included fees for optional services that the customers did not need or authorize. The court further held that the complaint sufficiently alleges that defendants made material false representations to investors, including that CenturyLink’s sales practices were aboveboard and represented that CenturyLink would never “plac[e] or record[] an order for our products and services for a customer without that customer’s authorization,” and that CenturyLink’s revenue growth in its consumer and small business segments was due to its focus on customer needs through its call centers, bundling service packages, and other strategies, when in fact the Company’s revenues were materially inflated by its deceptive and unlawful practices. Finally, the court held that the complaint sufficiently alleges that, when CenturyLink’s billing misconduct came to light, it resulted in sharp declines in the prices of CenturyLink’s securities, causing investors to incur substantial damages under the federal securities laws.

Stoll Berne, led by attorneys Keith Dubanevich, Tim DeJong, and Keil Mueller, previously was appointed co-lead counsel along with Bernstein Litowitz Berger & Grossmann LLP.