Hotel boss pestered worker for sex

Apr 19 2009 by Alastair Craig, Sunday Sun

TORMENTED by her sex pest boss, hotel receptionist Catherine Cook was driven from the job she loved.

Pushed out by his sleazy advances, the 59-year-old grandmother was left dazed after he made her life hell with lewd suggestions.

But last night Ms Cook told of her delight after winning a sex discrimination employment tribunal at which she was awarded thousands of pounds.

When Joseph Gomes switched from head chef to manager at the Park Hotel in Tynemouth, it was the start of a fraught six months for the full-time receptionist.

And it ended in her taking hotel management to court claiming sexual discrimination after a string of innuendoes and sickening come-ons.

Ms Cook told the hearing in Newcastle how Mr Gomes would pester her for sex, cornering her in secluded corridors to invite her back to his on-site quarters.

When the mum-of-three complained to Human Resources manager Douglas Pearson she said she was ignored.

A night-shift on which she was left alone with Mr Gomes was the final straw when he urged her back to his room for a sex session.

She finally quit after her boss prodded her stomach with a huge chopping knife.

Ms Cook, of Tynemouth, North Tyneside, is bitter at losing the job she loved last April, but overjoyed her ex-employer has been shamed after a harrowing battle for justice.

Mr Gomes has over 30 years’ experience at top hotels such as India’s Clarks Amer group, the Nadi Al Baaz (Royal Falcons Club) and the palace club of the Sultan of Oman.

“The whole thing turned my stomach,” said Ms Cook, after the tribunal win.