A Minnesota woman has sued Hyatt Hotels, claiming she was sexually assaulted while in a spa in a Hyatt hotel in Istanbul, Turkey, and the hotel chain took too little action in response.
The woman, identified only as Jane Doe, of Minnesota, filed the complaint on Jan. 30 in Cook County Circuit Court.
Defendants include Hyatt Hotels Corporation and Hyatt International Corporation.
According to the complaint, Doe alleges she was sexually assaulted by a male massage therapist in a spa at a Hyatt hotel in Istanbul, Turkey, while on vacation in 2014. The complaint does not identify her alleged assailant. However, the lawsuit notes that Doe believes Hyatt allowed her assailant to remain employed for two more years, despite knowledge that the same male employee at the spa had also sexually assaulted at least one other woman while administering a massage at the hotel's spa as far back as 2006.
According to the complaint, Doe also was allegedly laughed at by another male employee when she attempted to report the assault to hotel management. That employee also had not been fired, according to the complaint.
Upon her return to the U.S., Doe said she reported the attack to Hyatt's corporate office, who allegedly refunded her hotel charges and allegedly assured her they would take corrective action, including firing the man who allegedly assaulted her and the other man who allegedly laughed at her, and reporting the attacks to police. According to the complaint, Hyatt never initiated a police investigation or reported the incident to authorities.
The lawsuit further accuses Hyatt of allegedly enabling her attack through a lack of concern and through policies allowing the attacker to allegedly repeatedly assault her and other women.
The lawsuit seeks unspecified damages.
Doe is represented by attorneys William T. Gibbs, from Corboy & Demetrio P.C., of Chicago; and Wendy R. Fleishman and Daniel E. Seltz, of Lieff Cabraser Heimann & Bernstein LLP, of New York.