A federal jury in South Dakota has delivered a significant verdict in a high-profile discrimination case. On Friday, the owner of the Grand Gateway Hotel in Rapid City was found liable for discriminating against Native Americans and ordered to pay tens of thousands of dollars in damages to plaintiffs who were denied service.
Jury Awards Damages and Symbolic Dollar
The jury's decision mandates that Retsel Corporation, the company that owns the hotel, must compensate various individuals who were turned away. In a powerful symbolic gesture, the jury awarded exactly $1 in damages to the NDN Collective, the Indigenous advocacy group that initiated the class-action civil rights lawsuit in 2022. The group's president, Wizipan Garriott, an enrolled member of the Rosebud Sioux Tribe, emphasized the principle behind the action.
"This was never about money. We sued for one dollar," Garriott stated. "It was about being on record for the discrimination that happened, and using this as an opportunity to be able to really call out racism."
The Origin of the Controversy
The lawsuit stemmed from public social media posts made by the company's head, Connie Uhre, in March 2022. Following a fatal shooting at the hotel involving two teenagers whom police identified as Native American, Uhre declared she would ban Native Americans from the property. In a Facebook post, she wrote that she could not "allow a Native American to enter our business including Cheers," referring to the hotel's bar and casino.
Subsequently, when members of the NDN Collective attempted to book rooms after these posts, they were refused. This incident sparked protests in Rapid City and drew condemnation from the city's mayor and tribes across the state.
Countersuit, Bankruptcy, and Legal Repercussions
The legal proceedings faced delays when Retsel Corporation filed for bankruptcy in September 2024. Connie Uhre passed away later that same month. In a related decision, the jury also ruled on the company's countersuit, finding that the NDN Collective had acted as a nuisance during its protests against the hotel. The jury awarded $812 to the company in that countersuit.
Prior to the trial, a separate legal action resulted in a consent decree with the U.S. Justice Department in November 2023. Under that agreement, Uhre was required to issue a public apology and was banned from managing the establishment for four years.
The case unfolds against a backdrop of long-standing racial tensions in Rapid City, a gateway community to Mount Rushmore. Census data indicates that at least 8% of the city's population of approximately 80,000 identifies as American Indian or Alaska Native. Defense attorneys for the hotel did not immediately respond to requests for comment from The Associated Press following the verdict.
