North Carolina to sue Ritz-Carlton over 'CIAA Service Charge'

The CIAA tournament, one of the largest college basketball showcases in the country, draws more than 150,000 people – predominantly black – to Charlotte annually.

RALEIGH, North Carolina -- The N.C. Department of Justice plans to sue the Ritz-Carlton Charlotte over its “CIAA Service Charge.”

Special Deputy Attorney General Harriet Worley wrote Ritz-Carlton attorney Clay Wheeler on June 9 to alert him to NCDOJ’s intent to file suit within 14 business days. The cause, she wrote, was the hotel’s lack of response in providing a resolution to the levy imposed during the week of the CIAA’s basketball tournament three months after complaints surfaced. Among the questions in Justice’s inquiry: When did management decide to impose the surcharge, if it was imposed on all patrons during tournament week and whether similar fees were levied for other events.

“As a result of the lack of progress made in resolving the matter, we feel that we have no choice but to take formal legal action against your client and to seek appropriate injunctive relief, consumer restitution, and penalties from a court,” Worley wrote. … “If the Ritz Carlton world like to try to resolve the issue prior to that time, we are still open to discussing the matter.”

Letter to Ritz-Carlton's attorney

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Ritz-Carlton could face legal action after ‘CIAA service charge’

ROY COOPER
ATTORNEY GENERAL
STATE OF NORTH CAROLINA

CHARLOTTE, North Carolina -- The N.C. Attorney General’s Office says it will take legal action against the Ritz-Carlton in uptown after the hotel added a CIAA service charge to customers’ bills during the February basketball tournament.

At issue is the 15 percent CIAA gratuity the Ritz-Carlton imposed on customers who patronized the lobby and bar. The attorney general’s office contends the hotel violated state law by failing to inform customers of the service charge. Some of the customers unaware of the charge included an additional gratuity when they paid their bills, according to a draft of the legal complaint.

The agency’s Consumer Protection Division wants a judge to bar the hotel from automatically imposing charges without disclosing it first. The agency also is requesting restitution and refunds for customers who paid the fees.

It’s the first time the state agency – headed by Attorney General Roy Cooper – has sought legal action against a North Carolina hotel for such a surcharge, said spokeswoman Noelle Talley.

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