May June 2018

www.calodging.com May/June 2018 15 GIVEN THE DAILY HEADLINES and the #MeToo movement, sexual harassment and assault in the workplace is rightfully front-of-mind for employers throughout the country. This is particularly true in the hospitality industry, where hoteliers face a threat of liability on at least two fronts: (1) for allegations of sexual misconduct by guests upon hotel and resort staff and (2) for claims of harassment of employees by coworkers and supervisors. Hospitality employers have taken notice of the rise in such claims and challenges to confidentiality provisions in prior settlement agreements arising out of workplace harassment. Consequently, hotel employers are making an effort to eliminate inappropriate behavior on the job. Nevertheless, hotel and resort owners, operators, and management must continue to take affirmative steps to address a growing issue that uniquely impacts their industry. The Housekeeping Dilemma No hospitality employee seems more vulnerable to the threat of sexual assault than the housekeeper, whose job it is to enter guest rooms, most often alone. A study of harassment in the workplace by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission reveals why. The EEOC identified specific factors that put a workplace more at risk for harassment, and many of them are particularly relevant to the housekeeping experience; namely, workplaces that are isolated, tolerant of alcohol consumption, and dominated by “low-status workers” deficient in English. Without question, the pervasiveness of these risk factors, in combination, creates a “perfect storm” for the sexual harassment of hotel staff, which explains why groping and even more extreme predatory behaviors are reported all too often—by housekeepers, among others. For this reason, hoteliers must place a Sexual Harassment It’s a Hospitality Issue, Too By Lara Shortz, Attorney continues on page 16   No hospitality employee seems more vulnerable to the threat of sexual assault than the housekeeper, whose job it is to enter guest rooms, most often alone.