Entries by Sarah Lyons

Crain’s Chicago: Sexual harassment and the protection gap for Chicago’s low-wage workers (Op-Ed by Sheerine Alemzadeh, co-founder of Healing to Action)

“Law enforcement agencies have been less than clear with guidance around third-party harassment by customers and guests, making protections tenuous for employees in the rapidly growing service economy.

Local groups are working to shore up existing protections for the most vulnerable workers. In Chicago, Unite Here Local 1 is pushing an ordinance to strengthen hotels’ responses to guest harassment.”

Washington Post: A millionaire, a hotel maid and an arrest after the inauguration for sex abuse

“In November, voters in Seattle approved a measure providing hotel workers with panic buttons and other protections. And in Chicago, the city council is considering a measure that would require panic buttons. “These women deal with a constant fear when they work by themselves,” said Alderman Michelle Harris, the ordinance’s sponsor. “Will they be next?” “

DNA Info: Panic Buttons Could Protect Hotel Workers From Assault, Ald. Harris Says

“A proposed law would require Chicago hotels to give their workers a panic button in an effort to protect them from being sexually assaulted or harassed by guests.

Introduced by 8th Ward Ald. Michelle Harris (8th), the measure has the support of the Chicago Federation of Labor, whose representatives said at a City Hall news conference Tuesday that they frequently receive complaints from hotel workers who say they have been forced to endure sexual misconduct at work.”

CBS Chicago: Ordinance Aims To Protect Female Hotel Employees From Sexual Harassment

“Ald. Michelle Harris is sponsoring an ordinance that would require hotels to have anti-sexual harassment and assault policies and give female housekeepers working solo a panic button that summons help.
A woman named Estella, a housekeeper in a downtown hotel, said she has had male guests sexually expose themselves to her twice in the last three months.”

Equal Times: US HOTEL AND CASINO WORKERS FIGHT BACK AGAINST VIOLENCE AND HARASSMENT

“In Chicago, Nalls would like to see repeat harassers barred from casinos, which are known for banning people accused of cheating at the gaming tables.
If a guest “stole from the casino, they wouldn’t let him come back,” Nalls said.
“So, if he steals my dignity, why should he be allowed to come back?” “