A luxury Mexican resort frequented by celebrities says a Californian doctor who claims she was sexually assaulted by a waiter is to blame for the crime, not the hotel.
The physician, who is in her 30s and wishes to remain anonymous, said the incident occurred late last year while on vacation at the luxury resort Esperanza in Cabo San Lucas.
‘I woke up. I was confused, thinking I was having a dream with somebody’s fingers inside of me,’ she told Mercury News.
But now the resort is saying the doctor must take responsibility for the waiter’s behavior with the hotel claiming she ‘is guilty of inequitable conduct’ and she ‘voluntarily and knowingly assumed all risks.’
The incident occurred late last year at the luxury resort Esperanza in Cabo San Lucas (pictured). The resort says the doctor is to blame for what happened to her
An East Bay doctor, who is going by the pseudonym, Jane Doe, says she was sexually assaulted by an employee at Esperanza, a Cabo San Lucas resort in Mexico, during her stay in 2016
The doctor has filed a lawsuit against the Mill Valley company, Auberge Resorts, which operates the resort, alleging that the company didn’t properly check the background of the alleged assailant
‘I went to sleep in my hotel room at Esperanza and woke up to being sexually assaulted by a room service waiter,’ the woman, known as Jane Doe, said in a statement.
‘It is hard to put into words how devastating this experience has been for me and for my family. That Auberge would sooner blame a female assault victim than take any kind of accountability for their own actions is deeply depressing, and tells me that I was right to bring this case as a way of raising awareness of this critical safety issue for women.’
Her attorney, Paul Llewellyn, called Auberge’s legal stance ‘victim blaming’ and said the resort and its attorneys ‘should be ashamed of themselves.’
‘The only plausible reason to include such defenses is so Auberge can argue these points at trial,’ he said to the Mercury News. ‘In other words, they are preserving their rights to say that a woman sexually assaulted in her hotel room by a hotel employee ‘assumed the risk’ by staying in their hotel, was herself to blame, and that what happened was ‘consistent with the standards of care in the hospitality industry.’
The Esperanza’s management company said the doctor must take the blame for the assault claiming she ‘is guilty of inequitable conduct’ and ‘voluntarily and knowingly assumed all risks’
Llewellyn listed a number of reasons that the resort gave for their defense including:
- ‘Defendant alleges that Plaintiff is guilty of inequitable conduct with reference to the matters in the Complaint’
- ‘Plaintiff voluntarily and knowingly assumed all risks instant to said conduct at the time and place mentioned in said Complaint’
- ‘If Plaintiff suffered any of the damages described in her Complaint, which Defendant denies, then such damages were causes [sic] solely or in part by the breaches, acts, or omissions of Plaintiff’
The doctor was traveling together with her five girlfriends at the time of the alleged assault.
The married mother-of-two had left dinner to go to bed early after celebrating their final night with a traditional Mexican dinner.
As she slept, the waiter that had been serving the group then slipped inside her room and began to sexually assault her, according to the original lawsuit filed in October 30.
The Esperanza has hosted celebrities like Jay Z and figures like President Obama (Pictured: Vanessa Hudgens at the Esperanza January 2017)
‘I was very disoriented, as I was kind of coming to and he said something like: “It was part of the service.”‘
The lawsuit tells how the waiter began to take off his pants when the rest of the doctor’s friends, who were only ’30 to 40 feet’ away, started to make their way back to the room, at which point the waiter made a run for it.
After the unidentified woman told her friends what had transpired, they confronted the waiter and demanded that the resort call the police.
‘(The waiter), wringing his hands and appearing nervous, admitted what he had done, saying, “Yes, I know. I’m so sorry, I’m so sorry,”‘ the lawsuit alleged.
The hotel manager interviewed the victim and her friends later that night, but informed them that the police would not respond to the incident.
‘It’s important to do as a warning and as a survivor to tell my story that this can happen to anyone and anywhere,’ she said.
‘It was pretty devastating. It was hard to pinpoint one way. It’s affected my relationship with my family, friendships, I have more anxiety, depression, trouble sleeping, I’m afraid to go on vacation. It’s really affected everything in my life.’
The lawsuit takes aim at the Esperanza’s parent company, Auberge Resorts, which claims that they were negligent in hiring the waiter.
Initially, Auberge Resorts said that intended to ‘defend itself appropriately.’
‘The safety and welfare of our guests and staff is our highest priority,’ the company said in a statement.
‘We hold ourselves to the highest standards, including maintaining a zero tolerance policy for any type of harassment, with the goal of providing a safe and comfortable environment for all our guests and staff,’ the statement added.
The incident, which occurred in November last year highlights the frustration American tourists encounter when crimes occur at Mexican resorts with local law enforcement unresponsive and staff seemingly unconcerned.
The resort has played host to a number of world famous celebrities and political figures, as well, including hip-hop artist Jay Z and former President Barack Obama.
Vanessa Hudgens and Sharon Osborne have also been pampered at the Esperanza, which ‘promises a vacation you’ll cherish for years to come,’ according to the resort’s website.
The smallest rooms at the hotel start at $675 a night and go into the thousands.