Beyond Room Service

Abstract

The law is clear that hospitality operators must prevent and remedy sexual harassment in the workplace of employees by supervisors or other employees. However, where the alleged harasser is a guest, the law seems far more interested in what the hospitality operator did to remedy the complaint than to prevent the incident. At this point, case law on this topic is relatively slender and few states have passed specific laws. Employers must make a “reasonable effort” to address such harassment, but it is not yet clear what exactly that means—especially since a judge or jury would determine what is “reasonable” in court. While the hospitality operator’s lack of control over its guest must be considered in determining liability, no reported case has excused liability on this ground alone. As always, the best defense is a good offense—meaning adequate training of all employees and fair warning to guests that harassment is not tolerated.