A woman who works for a subcontractor in the cafeteria at the Museum of Science and Industry says she was sexually harassed and assaulted by two different kitchen workers in a complaint filed with the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.
When she tried to report the two workers to her superiors Mariela Gomez says they would laugh about it.
"They would walk away and treat me and treat the other women that work at the science museum as a toy," the single mother of three told NBC 5. Gomez worked for Hospitality One, a subcontractor of Sodexo, according to a museum spokesperson. The accused workers were employed by Sodexo.
Gomez says most of the incidents happened in and around the cafeteria where she worked in the food services and preparation area.
But on March 21, 2017--she says one employee became so violent--security guards called police.
"He hit me, he slapped me, my lip was swollen, my face was swollen," Gomez says. "And that was the day I couldn't do it anymore."
Chicago police confirm they made an arrest after the employee allegedly grabbed the victim's genitalia and slapped the victim in the face.
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Sodexo--the suspect's employer--terminated him.
But after investigating the allegations against the other employee Gomez accuses--a spokesperson for Sodexo says claims of sexual harassment weren't substantiated.
Details concerning Gomez's complaints of sexual harassment and retaliation by Hospitality One weren't available due to an ongoing EEOC investigation, the Sodexo spokesperson says. Hospitality One said it had not seen the EEOC complaint and declined to comment further.
The museum says it has a zero tolerance policy against harassment of any kind.
"Furthermore, we have an expectation that all of our contractors maintain safe working environments that are free of harassment or discrimination," the statement reads.
The museum says it could not provide additional details due to the ongoing investigation.
Gomez says Hospitality One stopped putting her on the schedule to work--forcing her to look for another job.
"I feel like they stabbed me in the back," she says. "I knew it wasn't fair."
NBC 5 was unable to reach the accused employees for comment.
Gomez's lawyer says they will wait for the EEOC to finish its investigation before potentially going forward with a lawsuit.
