From Caribbean News Now

NASSAU, Bahamas — Sandals Resorts International is urging a New York judge to dismiss a $30 million sexual assault claim because it occurred at its Nassau resort and should, therefore, be heard by a court in The Bahamas.

In a May 17 letter to the southern New York federal court, lawyers for Sandal Resorts argued that John Pascarella and Ashley Reid Pascarella, whose allegations received widespread TV and print coverage on both sides of the Atlantic, had signed a document agreeing that all legal disputes with the resort chain be resolved in The Bahamas.

Sandals lawyers added that the couple, who claim Mrs Pascarella was sexually assaulted by Moral Adderley, the butler assigned to them during their stay at Sandals Royal Bahamian, had been shown this clause on both their booking invoice and guest registration card.

Also, Sandals’ lawyers argued that The Bahamas was the most appropriate judicial forum to hear the claim as all events, evidence and witnesses were in The Bahamas and there is undoubtedly no connection to New York.

In related news, after public pressure, TripAdvisor has announced that they will flag sexual assault warnings on reviews so that travellers can know which accommodations, restaurants and tours have had reports of sexual assault, rape or sexual harassment.

TripAdvisor was prompted to examine its reviews after a report was published from a Free Press investigation that uncovered that victims of sexual assaults in resorts and hotels in Jamaica had detailed their assaults on TripAdvisor but a number of the resorts and hotels had worked hard to cover up those occurrences. Additionally, many of those reviews were buried away by others, making it impossible for travellers to be notified about the security risk of those lodgings.

The decision by TripAdvisor to make rapes and sexual assaults more visible on their website looks like a long time coming, particularly since they have had concerns with this previously. TripAdvisor apologized in 2017, to a Texas woman who wrote about her rape at a Mexican resort. TripAdvisor removed what she wrote because it included graphic language which at the time “violated community standards.” This policy has since been changed and TripAdvisor reloaded the sexual assault claim.

To locate the new filter, scroll down to the reviews section. Underneath “Traveller Rating” and above “Popular Mentions,” you will see a filter that says, “Traveller Safety.” This filter only appears if TripAdvisor has flagged the hotel. Website users can click the box to see reviews that deal with drugging, rape, sexual assault or robberies.

However, the Traveller Safety filter only flags reviews that were written within the last year that involves sexual assault and misconduct by workers of a travel business registered on the website. TripAdvisor will be implementing other security categories on a rolling basis and will flag reviews from here on out regarding security concerns like drugging, sexual assault, sex trafficking, physical assault, armed robbery and death.

If you want to know if a tour company, restaurant or hotel on TripAdvisor has had a long history of sexual misconduct, you will have to be persistent and do further research as the Traveller Safety filter will not flag companies if the reviews concerning sexual misconduct were composed more than a year ago. You will have to search for keywords like “sexual assault” or “rape” in the review search box to see those exact accounts.

Two instances of this were discovered through a quick search. Breezes Resort and Spa Bahamas and Sandals Montego Bay All-Inclusive do not have “Traveller Safety” filter boxes on their reviews, although they have reviews regarding sexual misconduct by workers at the lodging. That’s due to the reviews being written in 2005 and 2014, which go beyond the year duration that TripAdvisor has set.

User ‘jcplt’ wrote a review in 2005 about a Sandals Montego Bay worker placing his hand up jcplt’s spouse’s dress while she was on the dance floor. “Sandals tried to hide behind the fact that they ‘were investigating’ and the employee continuously denied the happening,” he wrote. “When all was said and done, I spent my last few hours in Jamaica meeting with the top two managers, signing legal release forms in return for [a] free trip to any Sandals.”

Similarly, Amanda T wrote a review about Breezes Resort and Spa Bahamas in 2014 stating, “Another thing that was rampant with the male staff was making sexual advances towards the tourists.” Adding further, “One day it was windy and the employee at the outdoor grill offered to ‘come warm me up in my room later.’ This is completely unprofessional and inappropriate.” Her review details her complaints about this harassment and the issues she faced when reporting it to management.

These two reviews do not meet TripAdvisor’s guidelines for a Traveller Safety flag since they were written over a year ago. Nevertheless, if you are the kind of traveller who requires to know about these incidents, remember to always use keyword searches liked “sexual,” “assault,” “sexual assault,” “rape” or “drugging” when looking through a travel company’s reviews so you can be adequately informed before booking.

For more on this story go to; https://www.caribbeannewsnow.com/2019/05/29/sandals-want-30-million-sexual-assault-case-tried-in-the-bahamas/