by Eric Wuestewald

Prominent New Orleans funk guitarist Leo Nocentelli has filed a racial discrimination suit against the Market Street Travelodge hotel following a particularly nasty disagreement over credit cards and incidentals that was first reported two years ago.

The mess all started after Nocentelli and his band, The Meters Experience, were in town for a show at the Brick & Mortar in October 2012. As detailed in NOLA's Times-Picayune, Nocentelli claims a desk clerk stopped him, bassist Bill Dickens, and drummer Felix Pollard from entering the lobby. The clerk then allegedly spoke to them through a security window and charged an extra $100 cash deposit for incidental charges — even after the Brick & Mortar's management had pre-paid for the rooms.

The incident only gets worse from there:

In the suit, Nocentelli says he paid the deposit, but the motel employee still refused to hand over the room keys, and asked Pollard and Dickens for deposits as well. An argument ensued.

At that point, Nocentelli called Jason Perkins, the managing partner of Parish Entertainment Group, which owns the Brick & Mortar. Perkins came to the Travelodge, where the hotel employee allegedly asked him why he sent "these guys" to the hotel instead of the "white guys" he usually sent. According to Perkins, the hotel employee said, "We don't take credit cards from those people." Asked by Perkins to clarify what was meant by "those people," the employee allegedly responded "black people."

According to the Chronicle, the lawsuit is asking for more than $25,000 in damages from Travelodge Hotels, Inc. and its local owner RTRN Investment, LLC for allowing the discrimination to occur.

Unfortunately, accusations of racism against the hotel come in good company. Nice work, Travelodge.