PHOENIX — Female airport restaurant employees and a union representing hospitality workers have asked the city of Phoenix’s Equal Opportunity Department to investigate allegations of sex and age discrimination by HMS Host, a major concessionaire at Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport.
The complaints filed Dec. 1 allege that older female HMS Host employees had their hours cut, were assigned more difficult work than their younger and male counterparts, and were subject to offensive comments about their age from their managers. This follows complaints they made earlier this year and last year with the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, which are still under investigation.
A spokeswoman from HMS Host, one of two concessionaires that run restaurants and bars inside Sky Harbor, said the company could not at this time comment on the allegations and the letters sent to the city.
Debra Ann Rutkowski, 59, worked as a bartender at Sky Harbor for 13 years. Until a few years ago she said she had no issues with her bosses but when a new manager came on Rutkowski claims that she and other employees like her were treated differently.
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