Former Nittany Lion Inn employee sues Penn State over response to sexual harassment
A former Nittany Lion Inn employee filed a federal lawsuit Monday accusing Penn State of improperly responding to her report that she was sexually harassed and subjected to retaliation when she complained about a hostile work environment.
The woman — whose is suing anonymously as a Jane Doe plaintiff — said her supervisor’s unwelcome sexual harassment and Penn State’s alleged retaliation led her to quit in February 2020.
Penn State declined comment through a university spokesperson.
The Bellefonte woman began working in the kitchen in April 2019, when the building still operated as a luxury hotel on the university’s flagship campus.
Attorney Stephanie Mensing wrote in the 25-page lawsuit that her direct supervisor sexually assaulted and impregnated the woman at his residence eight months later.
He pressured her to get an abortion and made her do “very physical work” that violated her pregnancy-related work restriction, while a manager “did not take (her) complaints seriously,” Mensing wrote.
A human resources consultant attempted to “demote” the woman to the hotel’s housekeeping department, a change that would have required a pay cut, Mensing wrote.
“Penn State and its management level employees knew or should have known about the harassment, but failed to take prompt and adequate remedial action,” Mensing wrote.
It was not immediately clear if the woman’s allegations were investigated criminally. Mensing did not respond to a request for comment.