Lawsuits allege sex, race discrimination by Hotel Fort Des Moines employees

Managers at downtown's luxuriously renovated Hotel Fort Des Moines have been committing or condoning harassment and discrimination against their workers, two recent lawsuits claim.

The downtown Des Moines landmark, which reopened in 2021 after a multiyear, $50 million restoration project intended to return it to its original 1919 grandeur, operates under the boutique Curio Collection by Hilton brand.

Two recent lawsuits, one filed in November and the other in January, accuse the hotel's management of turning a blind eye or actively retaliating against employees who complained about sexually and racially tinged misconduct. Both cases have now been transferred to federal court, where the defendants have filed motions to dismiss.

"It is hard to understand how conduct of this kind can be allowed to continue in Des Moines in 2023," attorney Roxanne Conlin, who is representing both plaintiffs, told the Register. "Shame on the companies that do not stop it."

Hilton Hotels International declined to comment. It has filed motions to dismiss, arguing that it has no connection to the cases other than licensing its brand to the hotel.

Attorneys for the local management group and employees, who also have filed motions to dismiss parts of the case, did not respond to a request for comment.

Maintenance manager accused of sexual harassment

Sydney Lalor, a former maintenance worker at the hotel, claims she was subjected to pervasive sexual harassment and unwanted touching by her boss, Director of Engineering Brad Johnson.

Hired in 2022, Lalor claims Johnson began making sexual comments and physical contact about a week after she was transferred to work under him. Her manager "would consistently find any excuse to touch her back, stomach, thigh, shoulders, and butt," peppered her with innuendo and inappropriate jokes and invitations for dates, telling her she was every man's "wet dream."

Lalor filed human resources complaints in May and July 2022 that resulted in a short suspension for Johnson. She claims that on his return, though, he treated the discipline as a joke and continued harassing her, frequently telling her that he was "HR's worst nightmare." She says Operations Director Neil Upadhyay and Human Resources Director Kyle Miriani told her they lacked evidence to fire Johnson, despite having refused to listen to recordings she offered them.

Eventually, she says, she was offered a chance to get away from him by moving to two other Des Moines metro hotels owned by the same company, but found her new work duties amounted to a demotion. She is suing for sex discrimination as well as assault and battery for the unwanted touching.

Security guard fired after coworker's harassment

Troy Tyler, a Black former security guard at the hotel, claims in his complaint that managers failed to put a stop to unceasing racial harassment from a coworker.

Like Lalor, Tyler was hired in 2022. He alleges that Kerri Blanchard, a lobby attendant at the hotel, soon began making false accusations against him, including that he was watching and following her around the hotel to intimidate her.

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And as with Lalor, Tyler alleges managers sought to address the issue by changing his work schedule. He also says Miriani admitted the other employee was creating a "hostile work environment" for him.

Even so, he says in the suit, managers failed to discipline the Blanchard, even after she had falsely yelled that he had "sexually assaulted three people." Instead, he claims, they told him he needed to leave before his shift ended to avoid encountering her.

Tyler also alleges he was given the duties of security manager, but not the associated pay raise promised in his interview for the job, and that officials retaliated against him for encouraging Lalor to report the abuse against her. Ultimately, he says, both he and Blanchard were fired. The lobby attendant was then hired back, with back pay, while he was not, he says.

Tyler claims Blanchard's harassment was due to his race, and alleges violations of state and federal antidiscrimination laws.

Defendants ask court to dismiss case

In their complaints, Tyler and Lalor name several corporate entities . In motions to dismiss, the companies argue they should be dismissed from the complaint because the two have failed to sue the corporate subsidiary for whom they actually worked.

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In addition, they argue that Tyler's complaint describes a "personal conflict" with a coworker and offers no facts supporting his claim the lobby attendant's actions were motivated by race. As for Lalor, they argue that her assault and battery claims must be addressed through a workers' compensation claim rather than litigation.

William Morris covers courts for the Des Moines Register. He can be contacted at wrmorris2@registermedia.com or 715-573-8166.

This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: Fort Des Moines Hotel sued for alleged discrimination, harassment