Hotel operator settles discrimination suit

A Newport Beach-based hotel company is expected to pay a settlement of $132,500 for allegedly discriminating against one of its own employees, according to authorities.

Tarsadia Hotels settled a suit filed by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, which claimed an autistic employee who worked as a clerk for a Comfort Suites hotel in San Diego’s Mission Valley was refused a state-funded job coach to teach him workplace skills, according to a news release from the EEOC.

” … the employee was belittled by his supervisor, denied access to a state-funded job coach, disciplined and ultimately discharged within four months of hire,” a separate release from the EEOC said of the case.

The company is expected to pay the man $125,000 and make a $7,500 donation to Partnerships with Industry, a San Diego-based nonprofit that works with disabled people.

Tarsadia, which earlier this year split into three companies, was unavailable for comment Friday.

— Lauren Williams

Twitter: @lawilliams30