Woman Gets $35K In Gender-Discrimination Lawsuit Against Hotel

BERGEN COUNTY, NJ — An Edgewater hotel has agreed to pay a former employee $35,000 to settle a lawsuit claiming it paid men more money — including her own son — per hour to do the same work and then fired her for complaining about it.

As part of the settlement with Rosa E. Lopez, Homewood Suites is required to submit to state monitoring of its hiring salary-setting and complaint-handling processing for two years, Attorney General Christopher Porrino announced Tuesday.

A $10,000 civil penalty against the hotel was suspended, but it could be reinstated with the hotel violates the state's Law Against Discrimination or does not adhere to the settlement.

The hotel must "undertake a variety of internal reforms," including the appointing a payroll auditor to review payroll records and make sure there are no wage discrepancies "among male and female workers who did, or presently do, similar work," Porrino said.

The auditor must identify any pay discrepancies and suggest how to resolve them, he said.

“This settlement resolves some very troubling allegations, and should serve to remind employers across New Jersey that disparate pay for the same work based on gender — or any type of ‘other-ness’ for that matter — will not be tolerated,” Porrino said. "We live in the 21st century. Equal pay for equal work is not just some feel-good platitude. The notion of any employer — let alone one that is part of a national hotel chain — paying women less than men for the identical work is appalling, and could not be allowed to stand.”

The complaint alleged that Homewood Suites hired Lopez in August 2011 to work as a housekeeper at $8 an hour. It later hired six male employees — including Lopez's son — to do the same job, but at a higher starting wage of $9 to $10 an hour.

Lopez was given a 20-cent-an-hour raise in August 2012 and starting working as a part-time shuttle driver for $10 an hour in addition to her housekeeping duties. She alleges that two male shuttle drivers were paid $10 an hour to do the job, said Porrino.

According to the complaint, Lopez approached her supervisor and the hotel's general manager about the wage disparity, but nothing changed.

In September 2014, Lopez raised the issue with Homewood Suites owner Minesh Patel and he claimed he would look into the situation and get back to her, the attorney general said.

The general manager called Lopez into his office, fired her, and then scolded her for complaining directly to the owner, Porrino said. Lopez then contacted the state Division on Civil Rights.

RELATED: State Alleges Gender Discrimination Against Bergen Hotel In Complaint

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