Workers at hotels run by Aimbridge Hospitality – a hotel management company – in Southern California, including the Sheraton Park in Anaheim, say they’re facing sexual harassment in the workplace.
They also say their complaints haven’t been properly addressed.
A couple of workers at Sheraton Park allege one of their coworkers inappropriately touches them and whispers sexual and suggestive comments in their ears.
On Wednesday, over 150 workers rallied outside the Anaheim Convention Center with signs that read “Boycott Sheraton Park Hotel” to protest the hotel management company’s handling of workplace harassment concerns.
Margarita Virrueta de Garibay is one of the workers at Sheraton Park in Anaheim that says she has faced sexual harassment on the job and she is demanding Aimbridge take action.
“I want them to pay more attention when somebody reports something and discipline the people doing this type of behavior,” she said at Wednesday’s rally in Spanish.
“We’re fighting for better benefits, better pay, and the rights of women too.”
An unnamed spokesperson for Aimbridge Hospitality said in a Wednesday email that the company takes the allegations seriously and officials are investigating the matter.
“We have zero tolerance for harassment of any kind, and these allegations are not reflective of our values or our commitment to fostering a positive and safe work environment for all associates,” they wrote.
The rally was organized by Unite Here Local 11, a union that represents hotel workers throughout Southern California.
It comes after three workers at hotels run by Aimbridge, including the Sheraton Park Anaheim, each filed complaints with the California Civil Rights Department.
In their complaints, workers allege that Aimbridge failed to properly respond to sexual harassment complaints.
The complaints and rally also comes against the backdrop of a new law in Anaheim that went into effect this year that’s aimed at boosting protections for hotel workers from this type of behavior.
Virrueta de Garibay is one of the workers who made a complaint.
“The Sheraton Park Hotel at the Anaheim Resort created a hostile work environment where I, and other women, have experienced sexual harassment,” reads her complaint. “I am speaking out because I want to ensure that future generations of women feel safe and comfortable in the place that they work.”
It’s not just in Anaheim where workers are alleging mishandling of harassment complaints by Aimbridge.
Maritza Villeda, who worked as a front desk supervisor at The Hampton Inn & Suites in Santa Monica run by Aimbridge, also filed a complaint after she was fired following reporting that she was being verbally harassed and threatened by a coworker.
“It started escalating and even though I was letting management know about his behavior, no one wanted to take action,” she said at Wednesday’s rally. “It was so stressful, just the thought of having to work and not being safe, while management lagged on taking actions and they knew that this was happening and they ignored it many times.”
Ada Briceño, co-president of Unite Here Local 11, said in a Tuesday evening phone interview that most of the workers in the union are women and that Aimbridge has a responsibility to protect their workers – something she says the company has repeatedly ignored.
“The workers will hold them accountable,” she said. “We will make sure that we take every means possible, every recourse that we have to make sure that we shame them into taking care of their workers.”
Wednesday’s rally took place as the Anaheim Convention Center hosts the Natural Products Expo West this week – one of the largest conventions in the city.
Are Hotel Staff Protections Working in Anaheim?
The rally also comes on the heels of a Unite Here Local 11 ballot initiative that was aimed at increasing the minimum wage for hotel workers in Anaheim as well as boosted safety measures for such employees in OC’s largest city.
The initiative – dubbed Measure A – failed in a special election in October after push back and criticism from Disney resort interests, hoteliers and a majority of city council members including Natalie Rubalcava.
Rubalcava instead successfully proposed her own ordinance that focused solely on the hotel worker protections and did not hike up the minimum wage for employees. The law went into effect this year.
Now, the councilwoman is facing a recall election in June sponsored by the union after independent investigators accused Rubalcava of misconduct in a corruption probe report – something she’s publicly denied.
[Read: Anaheim City Councilwoman Natalie Rubalcava Faces June Recall Election]
Anaheim’s hotel worker protection ordinance requires employers to give hotel maids panic buttons, have security guards to respond to distress calls, protects worker’s rights to report to the police and protects workers who report from retaliatory action from their employer.
To read the law, click here.
Briceño said the law is intended to protect hotel maids from being sexually harassed in the workplace
“And therefore, we will use every recourse available to us to ensure that we show that they’re not doing right by their employees,” she said.
On Strike & The Aimbridge Boycott
The complaints come after a host of hotel workers across Southern California hit the picket line last summer for better pay.
[Read: Southern California Hotel Workers Go on Strike For Better Pay]
In January, the union launched a boycott of Aimbridge hotels – dubbed “Shamebridge” – because they say the company refused to agree to a contract comparable to a host of other ones signed by hotels across OC and Los Angeles.
The boycott kicked off shortly after Aimbridge announced unionized hotels, including Sheraton Park, signed a new agreement in January that includes non-tipped wage increases for workers.
“We are urging the Union to act by countersigning the proposal so that we can implement these wage increases at these properties, including providing retroactive payments,” said Mark Tamis, Global President of Aimbridge in the press release.
Meanwhile, the union is calling on people to avoid Aimbridge hotels until a contract is signed.
“For the past eight months, 34 contracts have settled and yet Aimbridge refuses to be fair to their workers, and make sure that they allow folks to be able to provide for their families by compensating them fairly in this market,” Briceño said.
Hosam Elattar is a Voice of OC reporter and corps member with Report for America, a GroundTruth initiative. Contact him at helattar@voiceofoc.org or on Twitter @ElattarHosam.
