A TRADE union has threatened legal action against a major international hotel group after a Scottish staff member was sexually assaulted on her way home from work.
Unite Hospitality suggested it will take the InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG) to court if the company fails to put in place transport help for its staff.
Caitlin Lee, a worker at the Kimpton Blythswood Square Hotel in Glasgow’s city centre, was sexually assaulted while searching for a taxi home after a late night shift.
She said the company previously had a policy of paying towards the taxi fare for workers on late night shifts, but that this had been stopped by the time Lee was working in July.
After being scheduled to work at the five-star hotel until 1am on a Saturday, the 25-year-old said she asked the company to pay for her transport due to difficulties getting home that late.
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Lee says her manager refused but that it was agreed she would finish at midnight in time for her last bus.
However, Lee said the bus did not turn up and that she was assaulted while looking for a taxi.
Lee, who is chair of the union’s Glasgow branch, told The National: “When I got the rota I did email and ask if my transport was being provided but that wasn’t addressed until the day of the shift about five days later.
“I had to raise my concerns in a heated phone call with my manager and basically refused to have to pay my own taxi home. The solution to that was that I’d finish at midnight and get the last bus because they would not pay for my taxi.
“The bus stops right outside my work and drops me right outside my house but it never showed up.”
Lee, who has waived her right to anonymity as a victim of a sexual offence, said she went to a nearby taxi rank but the queues were all the way down the street. She said she was walking around the city centre when she was assaulted.
She reported to incident to police and officers drove her home.
Lee said she was unable to get in touch with her employers’ HR department until the following Monday. A meeting was scheduled for the Wednesday. After that, Lee put in a grievance, claiming IHG failed to provide an adequate duty of care and support for late-night travel after public transport hours. The response, detailed in a letter seen by The National, did not uphold Lee’s complaints.
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It told Lee that “an employer’s duty of care obligation only extends to the workplace or when undertaking required business travel. This does not include everyday commute to and from work, therefore IHG is not responsible for your Health & Safety once you leave the place of work”. It said IHG supports late-night travel through credit towards taxi fares but Lee and Unite Hospitality dispute this, saying the policy was only added a week after the assault took place.
The response said Lee failed to let HR show her sympathy and empathy by choosing to talk over email rather than by phone.
A later part reads: “You admitted in the hearing you only informed your line manager of an assault with no injuries which I fully understand in these circumstances of not wishing to share detail at this point.”
Unite Hospitality described the response as “shocking” and has said it will appeal the decision to senior levels of IHG.
Bryan Simpson, industrial organiser at Unite Hospitality, said: “This disgraceful response from IHG to what was a serious complaint about the handling of a sexual assault of an employee doesn’t just demonstrate a distinct lack of empathy or basic human decency as an employer, it is legally incorrect.
“We will be supporting Caitlin with an appeal to the vice-president of IHG Europe and pursuing this legally if they fail to put in place the support and transport that is needed to prevent this traumatising event from happening to any other employees.”
A spokesperson from Kimpton Blythswood Square said: “We were saddened to hear of an incident involving one of our team members, which took place off-property and is now being investigated by the relevant authorities. Our thoughts are with them at this difficult time. The safety and security of our guests and team members is always our highest priority.”
A Police Scotland spokesperson said: “Officers were called to a report of a sexual assault on Argyle Street around 12.40am on Saturday, July 31. Enquiries are ongoing.”
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