Kauai resort employees amend lawsuit over locker room videos
LIHUE, Kauai — Female employees of a Kauai resort have added claims of sexual harassment and retaliation to their class-action lawsuit filed after a male co-worker was accused of recording women in the employee locker room.
Attorneys for the employees have filed an amended complaint against Kauai Marriott Resort, claiming the hotel fostered a hostile work environment toward women.
The original lawsuit filed in September claims the resort’s response was negligent after the recording was reported to management.
The lawsuit names as defendants Marriott International Inc. and its subsidiary, Essex House Condominium Corp.
Resort general manager Paul Toner declined to comment, citing the pending litigation.
Alan Ganir, a former housekeeping employee, was arrested in September and charged with first-degree violation of privacy. His criminal trial is scheduled for April.
The women found his cellphone in a toilet stall in the women’s locker room, according to the lawsuit. The lawsuit said the phone was recording video of the stall and the changing area. The lawsuit also claims the women had been unknowingly recorded for more than a year.
“The plaintiffs’ attorneys know as well as anyone that the accused in this country are innocent until proven guilty,” said Matt Mannisto, Ganir’s attorney. “Any comment or insinuation to the contrary is unfair to Mr. Ganir and risks undermining the proceedings currently pending in the Fifth Circuit.”
Southwest Airlines completes test flight to Hawaii
DALLAS — Southwest Airlines has completed a test flight from Oakland, California, to Honolulu to demonstrate to federal aviation officials that it should be authorized to begin scheduled flights from the U.S. mainland to Hawaii.
In a statement, the Dallas-based airline said the Tuesday flight was intended to demonstrate to the Federal Aviation Administration its long-range navigation and communications procedures and capabilities.
Southwest has applied for FAA certification to fly to Honolulu and three other Hawaiian destinations from Oakland, San Jose, San Diego and Sacramento in California. No dates have been announced but the recent partial federal government shutdown delayed the federal regulatory approval process.
