NE Iowa Hotel Owners to Pay Over $1 Mil. for Sex Harassment

PEOSTA, Iowa (AP) — The owners of an Iowa hotel have been ordered to pay two former employees who complained about sexual harassment more than $1.2 million.

An Iowa jury ruled Friday against the owners of a Quality Inn and Suites in Peosta, Iowa.

Sheila Oyler and Julie Schemmel had sued the hotel operators because they say a male coworker repeatedly made sexual comments.

The ownership group, Laxmee Inc., was ordered to pay Oyler $630,000 and pay Schemmel $500,000 in damages. For back pay, Oyler is slated to receive $16,484.01 and Schemmel will receive $446.25.

In addition to those damages, one of the individual co-owners, Vijay Patel, was ordered to pay Oyler $70,000.