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 SUPPLEMENT TO THE EQUAL EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITY COMMISSION
CHARGE OF MELISSA DOGALI

I. PRELIMINARY STATEMENT

1. Guest Services Inc. (“Guest Services” or the “Company”) proudly claims on its

website that “our people are our best resource, and we value them as such.” What Guest Services

fails to mention is that when a female employee becomes pregnant and has a child, she is perceived

and treated as being unequipped to handle both motherhood and a job.

2. After disclosing to Guest Services that I was pregnant and had my first child, this is

exactly what I experienced after my pregnancy became the fodder of the office.

3. Specifically, after learning about my pregnancy, Guest Services hired an older

female employee with adult children and transferred my most valuable accounts to her, promoted

her and another employee and made me report to them, and instructed me to stop my traveling

responsibilities during the end of my pregnancy, even though I was fully capable of traveling.

4. When I gave birth, my supervisor, Barry Trice, told me to take additional time away

from work, and upon my return, effectively demoted me by assigning me responsibilities of a

lower-level employee. In addition, Guest Services made it difficult for me to use a breast pump

throughout the workday and the individuals I reported to became increasingly hostile towards me.

5. I complained to Human Resources about the foregoing discriminatory conduct, but

nothing was done to remedy it.

6. Instead, Guest Services hired a new “District Manger” that within a few months

assumed almost all of the properties that I managed, and once that was done, Guest Services

terminated my employment a week later for an ambiguous, inconsistent and plainly pretextual

justification – my “communication style.”

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II. BACKGROUND

7. I am an experienced hospitality manager with an extensive background in resort and

condominium management.

8. I have a Bachelor of Science from Northeastern University and a Certificate in

Project Management from New York University. I also hold a Florida Community Association

Manager License, a Manager Certification for Food and Beverage Operation and an Association

Management Specialist Certification.

9. Prior to joining Guest Services, I served as the Director of Hotel Operations for

American Cruise Lines, the Resort Project and Association Manager at Copper Mountain Resort in

Colorado and Resort Manager of the Porto Cupecoy Development in Cupecoy, St. Maarten.

10. In 2016, the Company aggressively recruited me for the position of Managing

Director in Naples, Florida.

11. I left my position at American Cruise Lines, in Connecticut, and joined Guest

Services in Naples, Florida in or around August 2016, with the title of Managing Director at a

salary of $100,000 plus benefits, as well as and a potential bonus of 15% my salary.

12. As Managing Director at Guest Services, I provided visionary leadership and

management to teams of senior managers in all hospitality areas, including the hotel and

condominium divisions.

13. I also was responsible for developing marketing and revenue management strategies

to drive and maximize traffic and revenue, aiding in property acquisition and contract execution at

Giants Ridge, organizing and directing contract deliverables and budget creations, overseeing a

complete reformation of onsite teams and overseeing pre-storm and post-storm operations during

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“Hurricane Irma,” one of Florida’s most significant and damaging storms, during which I remained

on site for extended periods of time at properties that required special attention.

14. I was widely recognized as an excellent employee. On numerous occasions,

supervisors and other employees referred to me as a “rock star.”

15. At the end of 2016, I was provided a generous bonus, even though one was not

guaranteed.

III. I DISCLOSE MY PREGNANCY AND AM IMMEDIATELY SUBJECTED TO

DISCRIMINATION

16. In or around the fall of 2016, I was overjoyed to learn that I was pregnant with my

first child.

17. I was apprehensive about how Guest Services would respond to the news of my

pregnancy because I had not seen or heard about of any other employees becoming pregnant in my

office. For this reason, I decided to wait until I was further along in my pregnancy before

informing Guest Services that I was expecting.

18. In or around April 2017, Mary Danitz, my coworker at the time, learned that I was

pregnant when she overheard me discussing my pregnancy with someone not associated with

Guest Services.

19. However, Ms. Danitz said nothing to me, and I did not even realize that Ms. Danitz

at the time had overheard my conversation with the third-party.

20. Instead, Ms. Danitz, who does not have children, apparently reported my pregnancy

to my direct supervisor, Barry Trice, the Vice President of Hospitality.

21. Just days later, Mr. Trice set up a meeting with me, but did not explain what the

meeting would be about.

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 22. When I arrived, Mr. Trice immediately asked me “so I hear you’re expecting?” I,

shocked, confirmed that I was indeed pregnant.

23. Mr. Trice told me that the women in the office had been talking about my

pregnancy, and that they believed that I should have disclosed my pregnancy sooner.

24. I made clear that I did not expect my workload or responsibilities to change as a

result of my pregnancy, and attempted to move onto another topic, but Mr. Trice quickly ended the

meeting. It was clear that Mr. Trice’s only reason for calling the meeting was to ask me questions

about my pregnancy.

25. In addition, Mr. Trice said nothing about our previous conversation, held shortly

before the meeting about my pregnancy, where we discussed increasing my salary to $125,000 as

well as a quarterly profit share. At the time, Mr. Trice agreed it was a good idea given my success

to date, and told me that he would be able to implement the salary change immediately and would

seek approval for the quarterly profit share.

26. I never actually received the increase in pay, despite Mr. Trice’s promises, and I do

not believe Mr. Trice took any action to get my quarterly profit share approved now that I was

pregnant.

27. After my meeting with Mr. Trice, I learned that my coworkers were continuing to

discuss my pregnancy.

28. When I finally broached the subject with Ms. Danitz directly, she outrageously told

me that it was a “good thing [I] finally told people [I] was pregnant, because they would have

thought [I] was just getting fat.”

29. In addition, about a month after learning of my pregnancy, Mr. Trice hired Laura

Sherman. Ms. Sherman is an older woman with no young children.

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 30. Over the course of the following two months, Mr. Trice gave Ms. Sherman nearly

all of my valuable accounts.

31. As a result, I had fewer and less meaningful responsibilities.

32. For example, I was no longer responsible for managing projects with clients, for

overseeing Guest Services employees at certain worksites or for responding to client questions and

inquiries.

33. I complained about the unfair allocations to Mr. Trice, but Mr. Trice did nothing.

34. Instead, Mr. Trice promoted Ms. Sherman and Ms. Danitz, and expected me to

report to each of them.

35. It was obvious to me that Mr. Trice, after learning that I was pregnant, no longer

viewed me as a valuable or capable member of the team.

36. At the time, I was also removed from high value accounts, and was told the reason

why these accounts were removed was to “lighten my work load.”

37. Removing accounts and changing my reporting structure negatively impacted my

career, and left me with fewer chances to demonstrate high performance and success at the

Company. I believe this reduced my opportunities for advancement at Guest Services.

38. In or around the middle of June 2017, Mr. Trice told me that he did not think I

should be travelling for work anymore because of my pregnancy.

39. Traveling to different client sites was an extremely important part of my job,

because it enabled me to establish meaningful connections with Guest Service’s clientele and

oversee the Company’s operations on those sites.

40. I responded that I did not want to and did not need to limit my travel for work.

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 41. I also told Mr. Trice that there was an upcoming event that was important for the

Company that I had been looking forward to and that I was ready, willing and able to travel for

work.

42. Mr. Trice told me that I could attend if I wanted to, but made it clear to me that he

wanted me to stop travelling, which was a very important part of my work and not something that I

was prepared to give up.

43. Nevertheless, I reluctantly agreed to Mr. Trice’s demand with the understanding that

Mr. Trice would reassign me projects and events that required travel again after I gave birth,

although that did not end up happening. As a result, I missed multiple events and opportunities to

make meaningful connections with coworkers and clients of the Company.

44. On Thursday, July 7, 2017, I gave birth to my son.

45. That weekend, I received an unprompted email from Guest Services Human

Resources with documents related to taking leave under the Family Medical Leave Act.

46. When I asked Mr. Trice and Ms. Danitz about the documents, both insisted that I fill

out the paperwork.

47. I explained that I only intended to take one day off and did not believe that a full

maternity leave was necessary given that my husband worked from home, and given the way my

pregnancy had been handled to date, I believed that I would be retaliated against and ultimately

terminated if I took significant time off from work to care for my newborn.

48. However, Mr. Trice, apparently believing that he was better equipped to make

decisions regarding my newborn than myself, told me that I should not return to work and that I

should take more time off.

49. I had given him no indication that I would need or want more time off.

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 50. I tried to tell him that returning to work was my choice, and that I had the right to

choose what was right for me and my family, and that I planned to return to work on Tuesday, July

10.

51. Undeterred, Mr. Trice insisted that I work from home for at least a few weeks. I,

having no other choice, relented and worked remotely for approximately two weeks (although even

during this time I attended various meetings with clients both in the office and at the clients’

worksites).

52. After the two weeks, I returned to my regular schedule at Guest Services and

resumed working out of the Naples office.

IV. MY PROTECTED COMPLAINTS OF PREGNANCY DISCRIMINATION

53. Upon my return from giving birth, I was given smaller and lower-value accounts

that were assigned to a lower-level employee that was leaving Guest Services.

54. On August 1, 2017, I complained to Mr. Trice about the reassignment, and wrote

Mr. Trice an email explaining,

As of yesterday, I find myself challenged with accepting [a lower-level

employee’s] responsibilities, as it has now resulted in essentially demotion and
two new sub-levels of reporting. This is the other end of the spectrum from what I
originally came on board for and is in contrast to my offer letter. I feel the
concerns I noted back in April are now what is occurring. The timing is
disheartening, as well, within three weeks of me having the baby. At our last
meeting regarding condos, your final words to me were “don’t change a thing.”

(emphasis added).

55. Mr. Trice forwarded my complaint to Danielle Verderosa in Human Resources. A

few days later, Ms. Verderosa arranged a phone call with me.

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 56. On that call, I reiterated my complaints and shared various examples of the

discrimination I had faced to date, including the offensive comments and gossiping about my

pregnancy, the change in reporting and the Company’s removal of my accounts.

57. Rather than taking my complaints seriously, Ms. Verderosa responded that while

she “believed I felt this way” there was “nothing she could do to help [me] with my feelings.” This

response to my explicit complaint of discrimination was abhorrent, and a harbinger of things to

come.

58. Over the next few months, I continued to complain to Human Resources and Mr.

Trice about discriminatory assignment allocations and changes to the reporting structure, as well as

about Ms. Danitz’s openly discriminatory and hostile attitude.

59. As with my first complaint, these follow-up complaints fell on deaf ears and my

work environment only became more hostile.

60. For example, in response to my complaints, Mr. Trice, apparently unwilling to do

anything to resolve the situation, suggested that I simply “talk things out” with Ms. Danitz.

61. Despite my reservations, I followed Mr. Trice’s direction.

62. When I tried to do so, Ms. Danitz, who is physically much larger than me, spent the

meeting standing aggressively over me with her fists raised, and falsely accused me not being

committed to my work at Guest Services.

63. She also falsely accused me of being “overwhelmed,” which she said was my “own

fault.”

64. I told Ms. Danitz that I was extremely committed to my work and not overwhelmed,

as evidenced by the fact that I took virtually no time off after giving birth.

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 65. I understood Ms. Danitz’s comments to refer to the fact that I decided to have a

child.

66. Ms. Danitz would also abruptly enter my office without invitation or warning.

67. This was particularly problematic for me, as Guest Services had no designated

breastfeeding or pumping space.

68. I complained to Human Resources and Ms. Sherman that there should be a

designated space for me to pump. I also asked Mr. Trice that, at the very least, I be provided a lock

on my office door so that my coworkers could not come barging in on me.

69. My complaints went unaddressed and I eventually resigned to pumping in my car in

the office parking lot, which is something that no woman should ever be forced to do.

70. I had my 2017 year-end review with Ms. Danitz and Ms. Sherman, and not Mr.

Trice, who was supposed to be my immediate supervisor.

71. I did not receive a bonus for 2017, and was not given the salary increase that had

been promised in April 2017 before my pregnancy was disclosed.

72. I complained to Mr. Trice about my bonus, who admitted that I “should have

received something.”

V. GUEST SERVICES COMPLETES ITS SHAM INVESTIGATION OF MY

COMPLAINTS AND SUBJECTS ME TO BLATANT RETALIATION

73. Unbelievably, it took Guest Services over six months to complete a sham

investigation into my complaints.

74. On February 15, 2018, Ms. Verderosa emailed me informing me that the

investigation was complete, and, of course, that she “didn’t find evidence to corroborate” my

allegations of a hostile work environment.

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 75. Ms. Verderosa also said that she would be sending a formal letter to me

summarizing the investigation and explaining the conclusion. However, I did not receive any

formal letter regarding the conclusion of the investigation into my complaints of discrimination.

76. Instead, the very next correspondence I received from Human Resources was a

“Corrective Action Notice,” sent to me that same day, which did not address my complaints of

discrimination and disparate treatment.

77. This “notice” was plainly an effort to fabricate a paper trail to justify my eventual

termination.

78. Ms. Danitz also began obsessing over my whereabouts and would frequently accuse

me of not being at work.

79. For example, upon returning from an out of office meeting in around February

2018, I remained in my car for a few minutes to pump (because the Company refused to provide

me a private place to do so in the office).

80. When I walked back into the building, pump still in hand, Ms. Danitz began

berating me and demanded to know where I had been and what I was doing.

81. I explained that I had been in my car “pumping,” and Ms. Danitz chastised me and

said that she “didn’t want to hear to hear about” my need to pump.

82. In or around March 2018, Ms. Sherman asked me to drive nearly seven hours in one

day to attend a meeting, even though she was aware that I could not feasibly make such a long trip

in one day due to my pumping schedule.

83. I reached out to Ms. Sherman and requested permission to call into the meeting,

given that there were two more important local meetings in Naples that would be a more

productive use of my time.

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 84. I also told Ms. Sherman that such a long drive would create a hardship because I

would need to stop multiple times along the way to pump and would need to refrigerate any bottles

of milk.

85. Not even bothering to hide her discriminatory contempt, Ms. Sherman responded, “I

don’t want to know and I don’t care.”

86. I complained to Mr. Trice about Ms. Sherman’s response. I am not aware of any

action taken by Guest Services to address my complaints.

87. In or around April 2018, Mr. Trice told me that there was an opportunity for

employment in Washington D.C. in the Company’s corporate office.

88. Mr. Trice instructed me to send my resume to Jeff Marquis, the President of Guest

Services.

89. I told Mr. Trice that I was not interested in transferring to an office in Washington

D.C. given that I had had a newborn and that my family and I were settled in Naples, Florida.

90. Despite my communicated disinterest in transferring, Mr. Trice insisted that I send

my resume to Mr. Marquis, which demonstrated his desire to be rid of me following my complaints

of discrimination.

91. I later learned that there was not even a position at my level available.

92. Shortly after urging me to leave the Florida office, Mr. Trice met with me and told

me that I was being stripped of my Managing Director title and would have to move into a new

role.

93. The “new role” was a transparent attempt to simply sideline me and strip me of all

of my responsibilities.

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 94. In fact, the role was so undefined and vague that Mr. Trice told me that I would

have to create a title for the role as well as the job description.

95. I was also told that I would have to move into a new office.

96. I objected, and demanded that I be put back into the role I occupied prior to giving

birth, but Mr. Trice refused and said it may be “possible” in a “year or two” for me to return to a

role that was commensurate with my position prior to childbirth.

97. Then, on June 19, 2018, Mr. Trice texted me and told me that he had been “hearing

a stir involving your desk. I am sorry we didn’t discuss this, but I just happen to think a desk is a

desk…”

98. The “stir” to which Mr. Trice was referring was the fact that I had

complained about my new office. Specifically, I complained that the desk in my new

office did not have a place for me to store my breast pump.1 When I brought this to the

attention of Mr. Trice, his response was simply, “This has to stop, Melissa.”

99. In sum, I complained about not having a place to store my breast pump, and Mr.

Trice responded by telling me “to stop.”

100. That same evening, Mr. Trice sent an email to the Hospitality Team announcing

that Wayne DeYorgi, a recently hired District Manager, would be taking over my remaining

properties and that I had been “appointed” as Manager, Compliance in charge of the national and

state park contracts and due diligence process for new acquisitions.

101. Given that Mr. DeYorgi was given all of my properties, it was clear he was

replacing me and that I was being demoted, given the changed title and responsibilities.

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In addition, when my belongings were transferred from my old office to my new office,
certain parts of my breast pump equipment had gone missing. They were never returned.
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 102. Only one week later, on June 26, 2018, Mr. Trice and Ms. Sherman called me into a

meeting and callously fired me.

103. At the termination meeting, I asked for the reasons for my termination.

104. Ms. Sherman volunteered that I was fired in part because of “the moving of the

desk.”

105. Mr. Trice refused to discuss the desk incident, and provided an ambiguous,

inconsistent and plainly pretextual justification for my termination – my “communication style.”

106. I was so overwhelmed by the abrupt and unexpected nature of my termination that I

fainted in the office while trying to collect my personal items.

107. While Mr. Trice initially called emergency medical services, as soon as EMS

arrived, Mr. Trice and Ms. Sherman ignored me and began discussing work-related items while I

was being treated.

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