Sexual Harassment Cases Show the Ineffectiveness of Going to H.R.
Lindsley
Ms. Lindsleyâs experience illustrates the complicated role that human resources departments play in harassment cases. The recent outpouring of complaints from women about mistreatment in the workplace has included numerous accounts of being ignored  stymied or retaliated against by human resources units â accounts that portray them as part of the problem  not the solution.
 Ms. Lindsley   the former Omni director  who started as a server at an Omni Hotel restaurant and eventually became the first woman to be named director of food and beverage at a hotel  said human resources ignored virtually all of the sexual harassment and other grievances  she  made to the department during  her  15 years with the chain  according to allegations  she  made in  her  complaint and in an interview.
The various human resources directors  she  spoke with rarely interviewed people  Ms. Lindsley  had said were witnesses to the behavior   she  said.  Ms. Lindsley  also said there appeared to have been no confidentiality in the system â that  her  boss and others were made aware  she  had complained about them.
In an emailed statement  a spokeswoman for Omni and its parent company  TRT Holdings  said: âWhile we do not comment on active litigation  we want to be clear that we dispute  Ms. Lindsleyâs  allegations and will defend against  her  lawsuit.â
â She  has spent hours if not days trying to figure out how  she âs going to tell you  and you want to have tissues there because  she  is going to cry in your office â said Kate Bischoff  a human resources compliance consultant. âBut you canât say  âIâm so sorryâ because that could be an acknowledgmentâ of wrongdoing.
For  Ms. Lindsley   the last straw came during a wine-promotion trip in Chile in 2015. One of only two women among the 50 executives in attendance   Ms. Lindsley  said some of the men on the trip suggested  she  could make more money working as a prostitute in Chile than as a hotel executive.
 Ms. Lindsley  left the chain the next year.
âI felt like all of those sexual harassment workshops we went to were a big waste of time â said  Ms. Lindsley  who now works for a hotel chain in Des Moines . âI personally never felt when I went to human resources about a sexual harassment complaint that it was handled appropriately and that I was protected.â
Ms. Lindsleyâs experience illustrates the complicated role that human resources departments play in harassment cases. The recent outpouring of complaints from women about mistreatment in the workplace has included numerous accounts of being ignored  stymied or retaliated against by human resources units â accounts that portray them as part of the problem  not the solution.
  [TGT] said human resources ignored virtually all of the sexual harassment and other grievances  she  made to the department during  her  15 years with the chain  according to allegations  she  made in  her  complaint and in an interview.
The various human resources directors  she  spoke with rarely interviewed people   [TGT] had said were witnesses to the behavior    [TGT]   said.   [TGT] also said there appeared to have been no confidentiality in the system â that   [TGT]   boss and others were made aware   [TGT]   had complained about them.
In an emailed statement  a spokeswoman for Omni and its parent company  TRT Holdings  said: âWhile we do not comment on active litigation  we want to be clear that we dispute   [TGT] allegations and will defend against   [TGT]   lawsuit.â
â She  has spent hours if not days trying to figure out how  she âs going to tell you  and you want to have tissues there because  she  is going to cry in your office â said Kate Bischoff  a human resources compliance consultant. âBut you canât say  âIâm so sorryâ because that could be an acknowledgmentâ of wrongdoing.
For   [TGT] the last straw came during a wine-promotion trip in Chile in 2015. One of only two women among the 50 executives in attendance   Ms. Lindsley  said some of the men on the trip suggested   [TGT]   could make more money working as a prostitute in Chile than as a hotel executive.
  [TGT] left the chain the next year.
âI felt like all of those sexual harassment workshops we went to were a big waste of time â said   [TGT]  . âI personally never felt when I went to human resources about a sexual harassment complaint that it was handled appropriately and that I was protected.â