ABINGDON, Va. – Developer Mack Trammell and his company, Trammell Hotel Investments, have faced at least eight civil rights complaints since 2001, several alleging sexual harassment.
Most recently, a federal jury in 2006 awarded $100,000 to Judy Wain, a former Trammell employee, determining that Trammell committed battery against her and that his company was liable.
"On several occasions following her [Wain’s] hire, Mack Trammell, sole owner of Trammell, LLC, grabbed plaintiff’s breast, kissed her and rubbed her back, all without plaintiff’s implied or actual consent," according to the complaint Wain filed in 2005.
"Defendant [Trammell] has engaged in an extensive pattern and practice of sexually harassing female employees over many, many years, and subsequently retaliating against those employees who attempt to exercise their rights under Title VII [of the Civil Rights Act]," according to the same lawsuit.
Wain also said in her complaint that she was fired in 2003 for "inter-racial socializing" with Eric Robinson, a co-worker.
Robinson, who is black, filed a lawsuit in 2005, claiming he was fired because of his race. He alleged that the company’s general manager, Desiree Keithan, warned him and Wain, who is white, to discontinue their friendship outside of work, then fired both.
According to Robinson’s complaint, Keithan advised Wain that, "It was not acceptable to defendant that such inter-racial socializing occur due to the fact that neither she nor Trammell approved of inter-racial socializing."
Robinson’s case was settled out of court for an undisclosed amount of money.
In 2003, John Masters filed a lawsuit alleging that Trammell induced him to relocate to Bristol and work for more than a year to get the Marriott at Exit 7 up and running on a tight deadline. Masters claimed he had been promised an ownership interest in the hotel – but when the time came for him to be paid, he was abruptly fired.
Trammell also settled that case out of court for an undisclosed amount.
In 2002, Trammell Hotel settled a civil rights lawsuit filed by Janie Wampler and another lawsuit filed by Melissa Henderson, who was paid damages and got her job back after claiming she was fired for raising the issue of sexual harassment.
Hilary Johnson, the Abingdon lawyer who represented Wain, Robinson, Masters and Henderson, said she also represented three others with sexual harassment claims against Trammell. Two of the women said they were harassed; the third claimed she was fired in retaliation for providing evidence in a sexual harassment case against Trammell.
All three cases were settled out of court, before lawsuits were filed and for undisclosed sums of money, Johnson said.
dmccown@bristolnews.com | (276) 791-0701
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