Complaint Review: West Coast Anaheim Hotel; Northwest Hospitality

I am 24 years old, and YES!! I'm Gay AND of a mixed racial background. I'm writing you today to tell you of a horrible experience I had at my last job. I worked for 2 loooooong years at the WestCoast Anaheim Hotel in Anaheim, CA, next to Disneyland. My problem was with the General Manager, Russ Cox, and Food and Beverage Manager Jerry Effa both 50-ish white males.

I guess I really didn't see it until it was too late. It began just a few weeks after I started working in the Coffee Shop as a Server. I used to come to work wearing a small, black rope necklace, nothing fancy. Apparently, he had come into the restaurant one day, saw it, and for some odd reason disapproved of it. He couldn't muster up the courage to tell me himself so he sent in someone else to tell me.

This happened a second time, about a week later when I came in wearing another necklace, again, nothing fancy. This time though, he sent in yet another person to do his dirty work. I stopped wearing jewelry altogether, until about a year and a half later. I came in wearing yet another necklace, and this time he himself approached me outside and told me to take it off because it was too "gaudy". I am the only person in the restaurant he wouldn't allow to wear necklaces. I know this because other girls AND guys would come in wearing necklaces all the time, and he never said anything to them.

At 5.00pm every evening, we had this pre-meal meeting in which the Chef would bring out the nights specials so he could explain them, and eventually let us try it. One evening, Russ came out while we were tasting the special, and took me aside and said, "You know, it doesn't look very nice for YOU to be eating in front of the guests." That was especially disturbing since there were others doing the same thing as I was, but being told nothing.

Once I was standing at the computer, inputting an order, and he told the assistant manager to come tell me to start doing something because I didn't look like I was doing anything productive. Mind you, there were about 3 other servers, 2 bus boys, a cashier and a hostess that weren't told anything.

There had been an incident where rumors had been circulating and a friend of mine was "outed" at work. As soon as Management found out he was gay, he was quickly terminated. How do I know for sure? Food and Beverage Manager Jerry Effa said himself "Yeah, it was my call to fire him. It's ok we don't need that fruit here anyway".

The final straw was on Tuesday, May 14th of last year. I came into work as scheduled, and as soon as I set foot through the door, I was told to go straight to Russ' office. What I heard proved without a doubt that I was a victim of Discrimination/Harrassment. This guy accused me of stealing. Not money, not equipment, but FOOD of all things. He told me that someone else had come to him and told him I had been stealing food. He had no proof, nor did he have any kind of evidence whatsoever.

Except for Management, I loved my position there, and I loved most of the people I worked with, but at that exact moment I decided the best thing would be for me to resign. I had been in and out of his office more than a couple times accused of unexcused absences, false customer complaints and so on. I walked out of there feeling like a ton of bricks had just been lifted off of my shoulders. Oh and by the way, the ONE black person that they actually hired during the 2 years I was there, was fired about a week or 2 later.

I immediately went to our local Union: All they did was call the hotel and ask a few questions which they denied. At that point its like "Well, theres nothing else we can do".

I wrote and sent a letter to the President of the Company detailing my experience there. He sent me a cheaply apologetic and probably pre-manufactured letter stating "rest assured we will look into these accusations and deal with them swiftly". I haven't heard back from him either.

Lastly, I even contacted MTV. They seemed the most excited and willing to help me. The Executive Producer and her Assistant called me every day and kept in real close contact with me for about a week. Then it came time to call the hotel to ask them questions. Im guessing he threatened to sue or call the cops or something because I didn't hear from MTV again after that day.

I am an excellent worker, a fast learner, team-player, and always customer service oriented. But because of my Race and Sexual Preference, Russ Cox made me feel less than significant in the workplace. Unfortunately, no one has been able to correct that problem that is the WestCoast Anaheim Hotel. However, I am confident that one day justice will be served. No one should have to go through what I went through while I was there. Watch out for these guys!!!

Angie
Fullerton, California
U.S.A.