Steve Neavling
Little Caesars Arena in Detroit.
A former hotel manager has filed a federal lawsuit accusing Amerilodge Group CEO Asad Malik of sexually harassing and assaulting her during a company outing to a Justin Timberlake concert in Detroit earlier this year, and then retaliating against her when she reported the incident.
Stephanie Starling, who managed the Courtyard Marriott in Bay City, alleges Malik groped her and tried to force a kiss during the Feb. 20 concert at Little Caesars Arena.
While in the arena’s concession area, Malik told Starling that he wanted to kiss her and that he “bet it would be a good kiss too,” according to the lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan.
“Probably later tonight,” he added, saying he was “just looking at her lips” and thinking about the kiss, the lawsuit alleges.
Starling says Malik slid into a booth beside her and put his hands under her thigh and onto her butt.
Starling “was noticeably trembling in fear and her hand was shaking as she tried to eat,” the lawsuit states.
Starling fled to the bathroom with a coworker and avoided Malik during most of the concert. Afterward, she says Malik drove her to a dark area near a hotel and told her, “Time for that kiss,” according to the lawsuit. When she refused, Malik allegedly grew agitated and asked, “What do you mean you CAN’T?”
She threatened to walk back to the hotel in the snow if he didn’t return her, and Malik eventually relented, according to the lawsuit. Starling’s boyfriend drove from Bay City to pick her up.
Starling “cried the entire ride home and was unable to work the next day,” the lawsuit states.
Amerilodge Group is based in Bloomfield Hills and manages, operates, and owns hotels in Michigan, Indiana, and Ohio under the brands Hilton, Marriott, and InterContinental Hotel Group.
The lawsuit was filed by Jack W. Schulz of Schulz Ghannam PLLC.
Starling reported Malik’s behavior to Amerilodge’s human resources director two days later. She was told the incident would be investigated confidentially by a neutral third party. Instead, the lawsuit alleges, the lawsuit was conducted by Amerilodge’s own defense attorneys and amounted to “a complete sham.”
The complaint says coworkers openly discussed her allegations despite assurances of confidentiality at work. On March 12, Starling’s company email was cut off after she told a supervisor she was overwhelmed by stress from the incident but had no plans to resign.
The following day, Amerilodge sent her an email saying it was “upholding [her] resignation.”
But, according to the lawsuit, “Starling never resigned.”
Instead, “she was terminated,” the complaint states.
On April 1, she was told investigators could not substantiate her claims and was offered money to waive her rights against Malik and Amerilodge, which she rejected. The law firm that carried out the investigation later represented Amerilodge in her Equal Employment Opportunity Commission filing, the lawsuit states.
Starling alleges sexual harassment, assault, battery, retaliation, and intentional infliction of emotional stress. She also contends other women had made similar allegations against Malik but were “silenced” by the company.
Schulz wrote in the complaint that Amerilodge “made a conscious effort to silence these women in an effort to protect a predator rather than to assure this horrendous conduct ends.”
Metro Times left a message for Amerilodge Group and is awaiting a response.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by PostX News and is published from a syndicated feed.)
