Former hotel worker claims her firing was tied to sex assault case

CHARLOTTE — A former hotel worker at the Marriott in Uptown Charlotte claims she was fired in part for retaliation after one guest said he woke up to a stranger sexually assaulting him.

Channel 9 first reported in March that the guest sued the hotel.

Now, the former worker is also suing Marriott. She told Channel 9 she was fired the same day that the first lawsuit came out.

The worker spoke to Channel 9′s Hunter Sáenz on Monday and said she was terminated because Marriott was worried she would testify in the sexual assault case.

The earlier lawsuit stems from a 2022 incident where police said Jermaine Lamont Peay sexually assaulted a Mississippi man who was staying at the hotel. The victim said he went to his room for the night but did not know “the self-closing and self-locking door [to his room] was not functioning properly, and the door did not properly latch or lock.”

He told the police that he woke up to Peay performing a sex act on him and he “howled in terror and lashed out to punch Peay” who ran off.

In the new court filing, a former employee of Marriott says “despite seeking help to remove the individual from the property [that night]... the assault occurred later that evening due to the absence of management and security...” and that she “believes her termination was in part to discredit her as a potential witness.”

In the new court document, Marriott admits the suspect was seen entering the victim’s room at 4 a.m. and that he was never questioned or stopped by hotel staff before that.

Sáenz reached out to Marriott to get a response to the initial lawsuit and the wrongful termination allegation but he hasn’t heard back.

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