PALOS VERDES, CA – More workers at a California hotel are speaking out on a culture they say helped foster sexual assault and harassment in the workplace. Terranea Resort made headlines in May when Sandra Pezqueda, a former dishwasher at the resort, settled her sexual harassment lawsuit against the luxury hotel in Rancho Palos Verdes and its staffing agency for $250,000, TIME magazine reported.
Pezqueda, an outspoken proponent of the #MeToo movement named one of the “Silence Breakers” selected by TIME magazine for its 2017 Person of the Year, filed the lawsuit in the summer of 2017 against the Terranea resort and its staffing agency, Excel.
She alleged that when she rejected her supervisor’s sexual advances, he retaliated against her by changing her schedule and gradually cutting her hours so that she was no longer able to support herself. When she complained, she was fired. The terms of the settlement release all parties, including Terranea Resort, of liabilities, TIME magazine reported.
“Reporting sexual assault in my job was one of the most difficult and painful things I’ve had to do, and I was punished for it,” Pezqueda said. “I don’t want anyone else in this city to go through what I went through…”
But Pezqueda wasn’t the only employee that experienced sexual harassment. Now, more Terranea employees are coming forward and recounting their experiences.
Jasmin Sanchez filed a lawsuit against the resort in Sept. 2018, accusing the resort’s loss prevention manager of sexual harassment and assault. Stephen Harrington, who conducted the internal investigation into Pezqueda’s allegations, allegedly texted Sanchez explicit text messages after taking her cellphone number from a staff bulletin board, the Guardian reported. Sanchez reported the texts to human resources, but a few days later Harrington sexually assaulted her for reporting him, according to the lawsuit.
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“When it happened, it gave me panic attacks. I wasn’t able to go back to work. I just left, I couldn’t stay and didn’t want to go back,” Sanchez told the Guardian. “I chose to speak out because my mom is a hotel housekeeper who has been sexually harassed and also because working women like me deserve respect.”
Harrington resigned from his position at Terranea Resort in November 2016, a spokesperson for the resort told Patch. However, the same supervisor who allegedly sexually assaulted Pezqueda harassed other coworkers as well. Monica Sanchez, a former dishwasher at the resort, told the Guardian that her supervisor propositioned her to have sex with him, but after rejecting his advances, they escalated.
Her supervisor allegedly laughed when she asked him to respect her. Although she no longer works at Terranea, she said her supervisor switched her schedule in retaliation, offering to undo the changes if she had sex with him, the news website reported.
“It was like hell to work there,” Monica Sanchez told the Guardian. “I experienced so much fear and humiliation at Terranea.”
In a statement to Patch, a Terranea Resort spokesperson said the resort is unaware of any complaints involving housekeepers like those alleged in the Guardian article.
“We have a zero-tolerance policy toward unlawful harassment of any kind. Terranea takes all staff comments and concerns very seriously, as part of our ongoing efforts to ensure our associates have a workplace in which they feel valued, respected and safe,” the spokesperson told Patch. “The recent outcry against sexual harassment at work has gained a significant amount of attention, and Terranea supports those who are speaking out against such injustices.”
In February, a local hotel workers union proposed panic buttons to protect housekeepers who work in Rancho Palos Verdes hotels. Unite Here Local 11 announced that it filed paperwork to put a measure on the November ballot that would require major hospitality employers in Rancho Palos Verdes to protect employees against sexual threats and assault, including panic buttons for workers who clean guest rooms.
However, the union sued the city of Rancho Palos Verdes in June, alleging that the city refused to put the measure on the ballot even though they collected enough valid signatures. The Rancho Palos Verdes city council eventually pushed back the ballot initiative to 2019, the Guardian reported.
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