Dubai: A manager was jailed for three months for groping a luxurious hotel’s attendant in a meeting ballroom as she was displaying a newly proposed uniform for the staff.
The 37-year-old Filipina attendant attended a general staff meeting for hotel employees during which she displayed a sample of the newly proposed uniform in December.
When the meeting concluded and most of the managers and employees were leaving the meeting room, the 50-year-old Sri Lankan manager stopped her for a quick chat.
While standing beside her shoulder to shoulder, the defendant patted the attendant’s back and then slid his hands down to her posterior and groped her twice.
The Filipina pulled away quickly and rushed to her office. She told her boss and then they reported the matter to the police.
The Dubai Court of First Instance convicted the 50-year-old defendant of groping his co-worker.
The defendant, who pleaded not guilty, will be deported after serving his punishment.
He contended in court that he had unintentionally and mistakenly touched the Filipina’s posterior.
The attendant showed up in court and asked the presiding judge to punish the accused for what he had done.
The 37-year-old woman testified that the incident happened after a general meeting in one of the ballrooms of the hotel at Palm Jumeirah.
“I had finished my role in displaying the costume to the managers and everybody had left when the incident happened. The defendant stopped me and asked me if I had resigned … then he placed his hand on my back and patted it. Then he slid it down and groped my posterior indecently. I was scared and walked away quickly. I informed my manager and then went to lodge a police complaint,” she said.
A Pakistani co-worker testified that he accompanied the Filipina to the police station to complain.
The defendant has already appealed the primary ruling.
