Sandals: No cover-up

SANDALS Resorts International (SRI) had said nothing is more important than the safety and security of its guests. It made this statement in response to a report claiming that multiple sexual assault allegations in the US media are affecting the group.

The report was published on Caribbean News Now’s website on Monday.

It referred to a butler, Moral Adderley, who is alleged to have sexually assaulted a guest, Ashley Reid Pascarella during a pre-wedding vacation at the Sandals Royal Bahamian in 2016.

The report also said there are stories in USA Today and the Detroit Free Press, claiming there have been other sex crimes and sexual assaults at other SRI properties around the Caribbean during the last five to seven years.

Pascarella, said the report, is seeking US$30 million in damages from SRI. The group originally offered the couple US$15,000 compensation when the incident first took place, as a refund of the cost of their vacation, in addition to other compensation, once they signed a non-disclosure agreement (NDA), which they refused to do.

Reports also claim there has been little or no apparent follow-up on the alleged attackers or any police investigations.

In July 2018, a 16-year-old girl vacationing in Negril, Jamaica, at SRI’s Beaches Resort said she was drugged by a bartender, choked and raped by a guest. The victim’s family decided not to press charges and signed an NDA. Also in July 2018, a South African family au pair was raped during her vacation with her host family at a Sandals resort in Jamaica.

Sandals paid the family US$25,000 and asked them to sign an NDA with the resort, which they did. The victim did not and is now speaking out about her ordeal.

The report also said there are stories in USA Today and the Detroit Free Press claiming there have been other sex crimes and sexual assaults at other SRI properties around the Caribbean during the last five to seven years. The reports claim that after these incidents, SRI’s management asked alleged victims to sign NDAs and accept refunds of their vacation costs to keep their silence.

These allegations arose after a norovirus outbreak at the Royal Bahamian Resort in which hundreds of people contracted a debilitating stomach flu.

Sandals has also faced allegations over its business dealings involving “obscene levels” of concessions from various Caribbean governments that have led to international scrutiny and investigations.

A controversial Sandals resort is being planned for Tobago.

In response to the latest report, SRI said, “We take allegations of criminal assault at our resorts seriously.”

It said it has an incident response protocol at all resorts for guests to report any type of criminal violence, including sexual assault and does not discourage guests or others from “reporting allegations of criminal conduct to law enforcement or from co-operating with law enforcement investigations.”

Sandals said where there is no active criminal investigation or prosecution “on rare occasions, we do offer refunds or similar compensation when our guests feel that we did not meet expectations which may include releases and confidentiality.”

Refunds, it added, “are not offers to guests who report being victims of criminal assault where an active criminal investigation is under way.”

It also said it is restricted from disclosing guest information “due to privacy laws where we operate.”

Sandals said its resorts contacted law enforcement with respect to certain incidents, after its incident response protocol was implemented, and uses a combination of robust policies, employee training and security infrastructure and technology across all resorts in multiple countries, to ensure the safety of its guests. Installation of 24/7 closed-circuit television and uniformed security guards at all resorts, comprehensive background checks on all prospective employees and a zero-tolerance policy for fraternisation by personnel with guests were some of the enhanced safety measures the group said it had implemented.