The EEOC announced the settlement of two lawsuits against Landwin
Management, Inc., a San Gabriel, Calif.-based hotel operator, for
$500,000 and significant remedial relief in cases alleging national
origin discrimination and sexual harassment. Both suits were filed in
September 2007 under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.
In the first lawsuit (Case No. CV 07-06169 SJO), the EEOC charged
that non-Chinese banquet servers were rejected for hire based on their
national origin when the San Gabriel Hilton severed its contract and
hired Landwin Management to operate the establishment in April 2005.
The EEOC said that all the non-Chinese banquet servers who previously
worked for the hotel at the time, many of whom were Latino, were not
hired back during the turnover and instead replaced with less qualified
Chinese workers.
In the second suit (Case No. CV 07-05916 PA), the EEOC alleged that
the San Gabriel Hilton subjected female employees to a sexually hostile
work environment, including verbal sexual harassment by the
housekeeping department supervisor, who referred to the women as
“whores” and “prostitutes” in addition to other offensive language. The
supervisor also allegedly reprimanded the female employees if they even
spoke to men, and Landwin failed to respond to the employees’
complaints of harassment.
In addition to the $500,000 in monetary relief, a three-year consent
decree settling the two lawsuits will also ensure that (1) Landwin will
implement hiring and recruiting goals for Hispanic employees; (2)
Landwin will revise its written policies on discrimination, sexual
harassment and recruitment and hiring; (3) employees will receive
annual training regarding discrimination, including national origin
discrimination and sexual harassment; (4) Landwin will retain an EEO
monitor / consultant named by the Commission to assist with recruiting,
hiring, training, revision of policies and record-keeping procedures;
and (5) the company will provide annual reports to the EEOC regarding
its employment practices.