Resort at Squaw Creek operators face federal lawsuit
By KCRA-TV
A property management company in Lake Tahoe violated federal law when it improperly handled a sexual harassment claim of a Resort at Squaw Creek employee, according to a lawsuit filed by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.
The commission said that the resort operator retaliated against the employee who filed a sexual harassment complaint against a co-worker.
The lawsuit claims that Shira Garfinkel was sexually harassed by a co-worker while she worked as a server and bartender between 2005 and 2007 at the resort which is run by Destination Hotels & Resorts. The suit states that she underwent unwanted touching and sexual advances. The harassment eventually led to the break-in of Garfinkel’s home.
The EEOC’s investigation determined that Resort at Squaw Valley failed to remedy the situation properly. The company took too long to implement steps to separate the two workers, and when it did, it violated federal law, the EEOC said.
OH PLEASE! A bartender and server? I did that for 27 years. Do you think I was ever sexually harrassed? GROW UP! It goes with the territory. If you’re not woman enough to put the idiots in their place, you have no business serving alcohol to the public. Get a job in a library.
dw did you even read the part “The harassment eventually led to the break-in of Garfinkel’s home.”
OH PLEASE! Do you think my home was ever broken into by my sexual harasser? GROW UP! It comes with the territory.
If she isn’t woman enough to stand up to a little home invasion and put the potential rapists in their place, you should have no business serving alcohol to touchy-feely-rapey home invasion people.
Break in? Well that’s another matter entirely. Get evidence and jail them for that crime. In the meantime, be a grownup and take care of business. It’s a rough world. I’m not sure how simple, un-responsed harassment could lead to a break in of a home.
One time I was harassed I hit the guy upside the head with my cocktail tray. Another time, when it was another employee, I went to my boss, AND told the other employees. It was dealt with. As I said, be a grownup.
For crying out loud. Check the calendar. It’s 2011 and women (and men) don’t have to tolerate groping on the job. It’s sexual harassment and it’s wrong. Being a cocktail server or bartender to earn money to support yourself and your family does not mean you forfeit your dignity or right to a decent work environment. Employers are required BY LAW to stop the harassment when they see it, even if it involves customers who can’t keep their hands to themselves.
And if we women want to be treated as equals we need to stop acting like VICTIMS. We do not need to meekly tolerate the behavior, we need to do something about it before it escalates. Are we EQUAL? Or do we remain weak?
Yeah. Break in. This was well beyond sexual harassment.
Did you even read the blurb before you started calling the victim weak?
also i am pretty sure the bible says something about sexual harassment.
and ‘judge not….’
Dogwoman…. Are you for real? It’s called a hostile work environment and it’s illegal. A person doesn’t have to have a victim mentality to stand up and say THIS IS WRONG. It’s not just a “woman’s issue” either. Sexual harassment happens to men too. It’s about abuse of power and it destroys people’s lives and costs American businesses millions of dollars in increased medical benefit usage, decreased productivity, turnover, etc.
I had no idea there were still dinosaurs like you around in this day and age.
She is not very intelligent, and just gives mindless conservative answers to things.
I have conservative leanings myself. This is just downright troglodytic. No one has to put up with that crap in the workplace anymore.
Did you use that word in reference to the prehistoric group of people, or D&D?
Good one! Both, I do believe.
Geek cred +1.
As you said, Robot, a breakin was way beyond sexual harrassment. And should have been prosecuted that way. How was Squaw inc. responsible for someone breaking into her house? There’s a lot of detail we are not privvy to, but as I said, whoever was breaking the law and breaking into the house needed to be charged. Your place of business can’t protect you from every danger. What did this woman do to protect herself? Anything? It sounds like Squaw tried to do SOMETHING, but broke laws doing it? The regulations are so damn complicated you’re damned if you do and damned if you don’t. It’s so much easier just to stand up for yourself instead of waiting for someone else to clear the legal ramifications up and then stand up for you. A knee to the groin can be effective.
P.S.
@Conservative Robot: “she is not very intelligent. . .” I never insult you personally, though occasionally I’d really like to. It’s low.
@Ask: “no one has to put up with that in the work place anymore”
I ask, what line of work are you in? Have you actually BEEN or WORKED in a bar or casino? It goes on every day. It is very much the nature of the business and it depends on how you deal with it as an individual how it will progress or end. People can only be controlled to certain extent. And if you fire them, they sue. So ya lose either way. As I said, the best thing is to deal with it yourself, knee to the groin, cocktail tray to the head, stilleto heel in the instep. Lots of solutions.
If the sexual harassment eventually lead to a break in, it was obviously beyond what is typical in bars.
What did the woman do to protect herself from a someone who eventually breaks into their house? Was she supposed to see this all coming?
What kind of person breaks into a house? Not a normal one.
And you still blame the victim?
Wow. Just wow.
Also let us not forget that you commented without even reading the blurb of the article. Typical moron behavior.
Pretty vague. Still don’t know how each of the subjects was behaving in their place of business. There’s a lot more involved than meets the eye. Most places I’ve worked will go through quite a bit of trouble if an employee is valued. I don’t know this situation and neither do you.
But I do know you need to stop calling me a moron. It makes you sound like a jerk.
Not to mention that every aspect of the harassers behavior is immoral. Objectifying women, groping, sexual degradation.
I know that these more modern issues are not specifically covered in your bible. It is a little less concrete, you can’t mindlessly quote it, so this is challenging for you. So lets go back to the basics of christian fundamentalism…. WWJD?
– a message from your friendly local atheist. ‘highlighting christian hypocrisy since 0 AD’
Straw man.
I’m not defending the harassers behavior. Not by any stretch. My point was that if we as women want to be treated as equals we need to start behaving as equals instead of as victims. But you’d rather twist words to suit your own pathology and make me repeat myself.
You are SO not as smart as you think you are.
It’s time to move on. Agree to disagree. Name calling is childish.
Kathryn Reed, LTN publisher
Dogwoman… To answer your question, I waited on tables to work my way through graduate school. I served cocktails for about a year too. I’ve had more than my fair share of sexual harassment. No knees to the groin, however, so I’ll bow to your superior coping mechanisms. Cue eye roll.