Dubai: A manager has been accused of groping a luxurious hotel’s attendant twice in a meeting ballroom as she was displaying a newly proposed uniform for the staff, heard a court on Thursday.
The 37-year-old Filipina attendant was said to have 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 vacating the meeting room, according to records, the 50-year-old Sri Lankan manager stopped the Filipina for a quick chat.
While standing beside her shoulder to shoulder, the manager was believed to have 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, where she informed her boss and then they reported the matter to the police.
Prosecutors accused the 50-year-old suspect of groping his co-worker.
The suspect pleaded not guilty when he showed up before the Dubai Court of First Instance on Thursday.
He contended before presiding judge Urfan Omar that he mistakenly and unintentionally touched the claimant’s posterior.
Meanwhile, the Filipina attendant was spotted approaching the court bench and asking presiding judge Omar to indict the suspect.
The 37-year-old woman testified to prosecutors 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 suspect 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 claimed to prosecutors.
A Pakistani co-worker testified to prosecutors that he accompanied the Filipina to the police station to complain.
A ruling will be heard on January 29.
