Woman Sues Mountain View Hotel For Sexual Harassment
MOUNTAIN VIEW (BCN) - A woman who worked as a front desk clerk at a Mountain View hotel sued her former employer after a supervisor sexually harassed her and the hotel management retaliated against her when she reported the abuse, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission alleged in a lawsuit filed Tuesday.
The woman, Beatriz Garcia, notified management after suffering persistent unwelcome touching, sexual comments and threats from a supervisor at the Holiday Inn Express Mountain View-Palo Alto Area, the employment commission said.
Garcia also reported discrimination against Mexican workers at the hotel, located at 2700 W. El Camino Real.
The company retaliated by firing her and attempting to harass her at her new job, the lawsuit alleges.
After Garcia filed a complaint with the equal employment opportunity commission, the Holiday Inn's management called her new manager to warn him about her and to obtain her contact information, the agency said.
"By law, employers must protect their workers and take responsibility for the actions of their supervisors," equal employment opportunity commission San Francisco regional attorney William Tamayo said in a statement.
The commission is responsible for enforcing federal laws that prohibit workplace discrimination.
Twice as many retaliation charges were filed as sexual harassment charges in fiscal year 2009, according to the commission. More than 33,600 retaliation charges were filed that year compared to about 12,690 sexual harassment charges.
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