Hotel Pays Fine to Settle Sexual Harassment and Retaliation Lawsuit

The operators and management company of a Holiday Inn Express in Simpsonville will pay $90,000 to settle a sexual harassment and retaliation lawsuit filed on behalf of three female employees by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), the agency announced.

The agency charged that the defendants, Imperial Investments Greenville, Inc., and Imperial Investments Group, Inc., violated federal law by subjecting three female employees to a sexually hostile work environment at the hotel. 

The lawsuit further charged that one of the women was unlawfully fired in retaliation for complaining about the sexual harassment. Such alleged actions violate Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

The complaint alleged that from at least August 2007 until January 2009, the hotel’s male general manager subjected the women to "sexual comments, sexual advances and unwelcome touching." 

When one of the employees reported the sexual harassment to the defendants’ corporate office, the defendants failed to properly investigate or stop the harassment, the EEOC said. The general manager then discharged the employee. The EEOC contended the employee was fired because she refused the general manager’s sexual advances and had complained to the corporate office.

“Sexual harassment in the workplace will simply not be tolerated,” said Lynette A. Barnes, regional attorney for EEOC’s Charlotte District Office. “An employer is obligated to maintain a workplace free of harassment. One who ignores sexual harassment, and fails to take active measures to prevent it, risks legal liability.”