For Hotel Workers, Weinstein Allegations Put a Spotlight on Harassment

Do you think we are approaching the point where servers and attendants will be allocated to customers based on their sex? Men hotel attendants for men and women to women? Institutions will be scared of the lawsuits and men or women customers will be scared of vindictive servers. Interesting situation.

“They feel like they can hug you and touch you and grab you and squeeze you and tell you how good they think your legs look in that uniform,” she said, describing guests at the Peninsula. “You laugh, you smile and you stand on your back foot and never let them get between you and a door.” We are looking for the words, the language, the linguistical framework for the new normal? There it is right there. Pow. The cadence is lyrical; the message is dire. Power has morphed into the thing you "never let [...] get between you and the door".

“We look after the smallest details to make our guests’ experience memorable,” he said. But, he said, that “does not mean we undertake any illegal activity or condone illegal behavior.” Hooray for Hollywood! Where lying is a way of life.

Wait till they get to female servers in restaurants. Sexual harassment from other restaurant employees, managers, and diners. Diners would see the harassment if we open our eyes.

Non-management Hotel staff are vulnerable at all times from unscrupulous guest. Many guest do believe that line staff are there to serve their most lowest desires. Does anyone believe this hotel will go against Weinstein’s power?? The pig is roasted now.

Are there any women who have not suffered at least one experience of unwanted sexual contact in their lives? I highly doubt it.

I've said it before, someone touches you without permission the immediate response should be a punch to the face. Justified as self defense. The idea that because someone has money they deserve special treatment must end. It is time for the rich to be vilified as the parasites on society that they are.

Where are all the Hollywood #metoo s, to stand up for these women?

A while ago I have read a report from a student who had worked for a while as housekeeper in a hotel. She said, she had never received as many sexual propositions in her private life (i.e. outside the job) than during that job, i.e. when she told acquaintances about her hotel job. No wonder than that customers in the hotel come to similar conclusions. Howver, not every proposition (e.g. to provide a massage) should be counted as harassment, and not every misbehaviour should be legally punishable.

Really important article, since all the abuses are abuses of power and these workers are especially vulnerable.

Twenty-plus years ago I was attending a professional seminar in Denver. During a break in the sessions I went up to my hotel room to freshen up. The housekeeping cart was just outside my door, which was ajar. I took a step into the room entrance and was shocked to see two hotel employees (in uniform) making out on my bed. They didn't see me and I backed out silently. It never occurred to me that it could have been a non-consensual incident. If I saw the same thing now I would cough loudly and enter the room. I'd hope that if it was an assault, I'd give the victim a chance to get away.

It should be a minimum requirement in all hotels that workers go into room with some sort of a voice recording device. There should be zero tolerance for abuse especially when the victims are voiceless undocumented workers.

The only hotel HW should be staying at from now on is The Grey Bar Hotel.

What about advertising? This article is accompanied by an ad for a Prada product called Candy, with a waif-thin model who could pass for 16. And candy is for children and is sometimes a lure for predators. Women as sex objects abound in ads here and elsewhere, creating a toxic atmosphere.

I should feel trepidation commenting on this as a man (given Matt Damon's example), but what the heck, I'm fearless when it comes to people getting offended. This is a terrible state of affairs, long-established and well-known. I think most people already knew that women were molested in hotels, bars, and other workplaces, by supervisors and clients. It's good that these stories are getting more attention, but it's bad that we're still like this. It should be kept in mind, men have been like this or worse towards women in most of history, and most cultures, and it just gets worse the further back you go. Lord knows what an average woman had to endure from men in 1500, but getting molested must have happened to just about all women on the planet at that time. It doesn't help that our current culture here sees sexuality as a primary concern in life, and a primary way to establish someone's value. Kim Kardashian is a good example, famous for sex and nothing else. I don't know why men do these things to women (I don't feel the same urge), but it might be that they feel that if they're not having some sort of sexual contact frequently, they're a failure, over the hill, too old and ugly to matter. Weinstein is certainly old and ugly enough to qualify. As to how to fix it, I don't think puritanism will work. I think we need legal prostitution. There are downsides, but we can't get rid of sex, maybe embracing it will work.

Female hotel guests can also be assaulted in rooms if they are caught alone. I was drugged at a hotel bar and cannot remember anything after ordering my drink. I made it to my room safely but will never stay in a hotel alone again.

The income equality, degradation and exploitation of women goes far beyond the hotel housekeeping staff. Take a look at hotel spas - the now multi billion spa industry (mostly women workers) has been disparagingly underrepresented by unions. In NYC, I believe, there are only 3 that are represented by unions. I spent 12 years as a NY State licensed LMT in NYC. I went in the profession, spent tens and tens of thousands on my education and continuing education (now mandatory in NY State) (on top of my undergrad education) to facilitate health and wellness for others. I left the business demoralized and disgusted by the corporate mind games, physical relentlessness, disregard for having enough supplies and SOPs that allowed the staff to offer excellent service we were under constant pressure to provide while under constant vigilance of being "shopped", Machiavellian spa directors who were in cahoots with each other and the pressures of dealing with some of the sociopathic wealthy and elite. Some spa directors, sadly mostly women, are cunning and quick to question or "gaslight" staff when attempting to report inappropriate clients. I call on hotel unions nation wide to make an effort organize hotel spas. And further more, for a spa union to be started to serve LMTS, estheticians, nail techs and spa support staff in gyms, salons and independent spa venues to protect their workers' physical, emotional and financial well being. The time is long overdue!

This story makes perfect sense and is quite believable. Any time a woman is expected to and has to enter the 'bedroom' of a strange male she is in some danger. Men may physiologically begin to respond in such a way that indicates sexual interaction is within reach. And he will then naturally interpret his setting as a possible mating area and may respond accordingly, perhaps perceiving that the woman in his area are 'in play.' This is not a judgment about the situation but simply a comment about how evolutionary psychology has altered behavior over many thousands of years. Most women working in the hotel field realize these issues almost immediately and take precautions, but hotels should do more to protect them, such as provide them buzzers or alarms they can set off when they feel threatened.

"...and never let them get between you and a door." Yep. I worked in another service industry for many years. Picking battles and manuevering around insults was a daily thing, sort of like driving home in rush hour traffic. Which trespass are you going to let ruin your goal of paying the rent of punching out in an hour to pick up your kid? Over time, it adds to the sense that we are somehow complicit.

Women and men too, can vote with their wallets by favoring hotels that get out in front of this beyond the usual HR blahblah. Have a policy that shows guests, here is how we keep our workers safe. Money talks, let the companies with sincerely caring cultures win out. What's the point of loyalty program or espresso quality, if the lowest paid workers are dealing with a form of slavery.

When it comes to sexual harassment: 1. The list of perpetrators is long; BUT 2. The list of those who enabled, covered up, made threats (explicit or otherwise) in case silence was ever breached and/or were otherwise complicit is a lot, lot longer. Many offices, across many different sectors of our economy, are still in the midst of addressing the issues involved with #1. But if they really want to change their cultures to weed out sexual harassment, they'd better do something about #2 too.

Another industry exposed--but when do we hear about Wall Street? Certainly the industry if full of powerful men. If there is no story, no sexual discrimination, no sexual harassment, no sexual assault on Wall Street--that is amazing and is, in itself, a story.

She was not a hotel worker but a maid in the private residence of a very famous Hollywood and political family. And she was impregnated by the father of the family, the former Governor of California. So there you go. These sagas continue.

Sexual malfeasance can and does take many forms. Frequently, women in vulnerable positions are the first to face this uninvited plague. The more men who are publicly shamed and face ruination for their misconduct, the more the chances for a complete end to this abuse of power and sexual corruption at the expense of women. Demeaning women in any way, or seeking to receive sexual gratification from an unwilling partner is wrong, evil and unacceptable. We should be a society of equals, seeking the happiness of all, at the expense of no one. This is reality whose time has come.

As a former hotel employee in a large hotel company I concur that sexual harassment occurred, from the highest level of management downward, and it was conducted almost as though it were a divine prerogative from the perpetrator. I was in a hotel in Canada when this took place, in a very well known iconic hotel

Those coming forward are to be applauded. They make it easier to speak up. I was propositioned by my boss. She told me I had to work late, then called me to her office where she offered me a drink, then winked and asked if I'd been "watching her tushie" when she walked past my office. I said I couldn't have a drink at the office--against the rules. She said she was ordering me to. I said I couldn't break company rules, and returned to my office. I was laid off inside a week. PS--She was fired a few months later, for grabbing and kissing her female assistant after hours.

Yeah, as someone who had to take sit down meetings with Weinstein there, I can tell you that place totally catered to that wretched man.

When I walk into a hotel like that, I think of the line from Ninotchka: "I'm ashamed to put the picture of Lenin in a room like this."

Establishment such as this have a "public policy" but in actuality the customer is always right and the richer and more famous the customer is, are the more the establishment will turn a blind eye - FACT!

My observations: 1) This is why the hotel/service industry is often opposed to unions and employee organizing. Management is unaccountable for what goes on with its employees and their working conditions because it knows these employees are vulnerable and easily replacable. And management wants to keep it that way. Fundamentally, this is the raison d’etre for unions: Giving a voice to those silenced by a power structure that they cannot fight by themselves. 2) All workers have dignity. All work — no matter how it may be looked down upon by the upper, entitled classes — has dignity. Both should — and must — be protected and respected.

The ancien regime is back.

I strongly believe that we should have a special unit with thorough knowledge of the anatomy of sexual abuse so that victims can come forward without fearing humiliation and insults while reporting their stories. Furthermore, the statute of limitation should be scrapped along with hush money or as it's called "nondisclosure clause ."Punishment for such crimes should be harsh in order to discourage such awful behavior. What is it that men don't understand when it comes to women wanting a safe and secure environment to work in, which they demand for themselves. Why is it so hard to fathom that work is work. This male behavior has to be sent to the scrap bin. No wonder the world is jn terrible shape under self anointed dominance, because God said so! Please continue to bring down and smash these fake Gods. Down with the horrible Patriarchy and the religions that enshrined it. those days are over.

Horrible. Men, no matter what their role in society, need to stop preying on women. #WeAreJustGettingStarted naming names.

Of course women should not be a sexual target in a place of business but how do we handle the following problem if we go nuclear . . . ten years from now if all the neanderthals have been dealt with what do you suppose would be the outcome of a job interview between two candidates; one being a beautiful young woman with a breathtaking figure the other a dorky disheveled looking male. We all know who the interviewer would like to hire but ten years from now dorky will rule.

“With respect to any women who have made allegations on the record, Mr. Weinstein believes that all of these relationships were consensual.” Well, only a pathological liar and/or psychopath would actually believe that sexual harassment is consensual. He appears to qualify for both. Can we assume the hotel will no longer accept his business. Eclectic Pragmatism — http://eclectic-pragmatist.tumblr.com/ Eclectic Pragmatist — https://medium.com/eclectic-pragmatism

Shameful. When will this abuse of power end? Are police resources used the right way, to dislodge the abusers, allow some decency to return? Is jail too nice for them, so being kept out to rot in a comfortable lodge? If we are going to be consequent and set an exemplary reminder/dissuader to potential abusers, send Weinstein to jail... without the comforts of a five-star hotel suite.

The elephant in the room is this: Undocumented, voiceless workers are the backbone of the hotel industry. How many maids don't report abuse because they fear deportation?

Why non-disclosure? That should be illegal. Non disclosure should only be for trade secrets or patented ideas or processes. They should not be used to silence people who witness misbehavior.

Such pampering of the rich creates arrogance and ignorance. Their money simply buys decadence.