Three recent cases underscore the importance of employee background checks to detect, among other issues, sexual assault tendencies. Due diligence can save a hotel from liability. A rush to hire can bite.
In one case1, a male front desk employee was accused of sexually assaulting two female employees. The women sued the hotel. It had apparently conducted a background check on the employee and the report contained no record of sexual aggression. Nor did anything about his conduct prior to the attack suggest he harbored assaultive tendencies. The attack being unforeseeable, the court ruled in favor of the hotel.
A second case2 involved a masseur who had worked in the hotel spa for many years. One of his regular customers alleged he put his hands on her breasts over the sheet draped on her for the massage. He adamantly denied the allegations. His past massages with the client included the upper pectoral regions and were administered without objection.
The hotel had a policy prohibiting inappropriate touching of the breasts during a massage. If violated, the offending therapist could be terminated. The hotel’s director of Spa Operations, who previously worked as a massage therapist, testified there are times during a massage when a woman’s breast may be grazed on the side accidently. Further, the hotel had investigated the circumstances and chose not to terminate.
At trial, mental health professionals testified plaintiff had an anxiety disorder and had been the victim of sexual abuse as a teenager. These conditions resulted in a proneness to misperceive circumstances.
The jury decided in favor of the hotel. In addition, the court awarded the inn $39,140 as partial attorney’s fees for delaying tactics of the plaintiff that prolonged the lawsuit.
In a third recent case3, a hotel spa massage therapist was accused by a client of sexual assault during an in-room massage. The hotel was found liable to the patron based on violation of a statute, replicated in many states, requiring the hotel to verify before hiring that massage therapists are appropriately licensed.
The lessons are clear: Hotels must investigate the background of new hires, be vigilant throughout their employment and ensure those requiring licenses are properly credentialed and licenses are current.
Sources:
- Turrentino v. Super 8 Belleveille & Wyndham Hotels, 2025 WL 88894 (MI Appls, 1/13/2025)
- Doe v. Accor Hotels & Resorts (Maryland), LLC et al, 2025 WL 2046258 (CA Appls.,7/21/25)
- Betts v. Sixty Lower East Side, LLC, Sixty Hotels, LLC & Sixty Hotel Manager, LLC, 2025 WL 1795362 ( S.D.NY, 7/7/2035).
This article was originally published in the September edition of Hotel Management magazine. Subscribe here.