in september questions were asked in the house of commons about the incident, by which time constantine had decided to take legal action. in june 1944 "constantine v imperial london hotels" was heard in the high court. although there was no law against racial discrimination in britain at the time, constantine argued that the hotel had breached its contract with him. constantine informed the court that the attitude of the hotel changed between his booking and arrival, owing to the presence of white american servicemen. the defence argued that they had met their contract by accommodating constantine in another hotel and that he had left the imperial voluntarily. the managing director of the hotel denied that racist language had been used. after two days of evidence, the judge found in constantine's favour, rejecting the defence's arguments and praising the way constantine had handled the situation. although the law limited the award of damages against the hotel to five guineas, constantine was vindicated. he did not pursue the case any further as he believed he had sufficiently raised the issue of racism in the public eye; the case was widely reported in the press, and constantine received great support from both the public and the government.