File this under: What were they thinking?!?
Starwood Hotels and Resorts was found guilty of spying on a New York employee and has been ordered to pay $3 million in damages.
Apparently, the hotel set up a hidden camera to watch 46-year-old Moises Mendez, a baker at the Westin Hotel at Times Square, following repeated complaints from Mendez that he was being discriminated by the hotel.
Seems the only way the hotel’s HR department could be certain the claims were legitimate was to install a hidden camera near Mendez’s workstation in the kitchen and watch him. When Mendez found out what was going on, the situation took a turn for the worse.
After a month-long process, a jury found Starwood guilty of unlawful retaliation and ordered the hotel to pay Mendez $1 million for his emotional distress, pain and suffering, and $2 million in punitive damages. After all that, Mendez said in a statement: “I look forward to going back to work today.”%Gallery-67351%