Calgary Hotel Owners Knew Staff Member was a Predator, Lawsuit Claims

A guest who was sexually assaulted by a staff member at a Calgary hotel says that the owners knew the perpetrator was a problem.

According to the guest’s lawsuit, the staff member, Jatinder Pal Singh Brar, had a history of acting in an inappropriately sexual manner with female guests at Canada’s Best Value Inn located on Macleod Trail. This history was known to the directors, claims the lawsuit lodged against the Calgary hotel, but they failed to act upon it. The lawsuit is seeking $2 million in damages from the hotel. The hotel’s directors are also named as defendants in the complaint.

The plaintiff contends that the hotel and its directors acted negligently when they kept Brar on staff, despite knowing of his previous acts of sexual misconduct.

“Brar had conducted himself previously with the hotel’s female guests in sexually inappropriate manners of which the hotel and the two directors, the defendants Vishal and Munmun, knew,” alleges the Calgary hotel lawsuit.

According to a report by the Calgary Herald, the plaintiff, a woman from Edmonton, checked into the hotel in October of 2017. She alleges in her Calgary hotel lawsuit that she used the hotel-provided internet during her stay.

While she was using the internet, she alleges that a pop-up notified her that a third party was viewing her data. When she called the hotel receptionist to ask about whether her internet use was secure through the hotel, she says the receptionist confirmed that it was, so the plaintiff continued to use the hotel-provided internet.

However, the plaintiff’s data was apparently not secure, alleges the lawsuit against the Calgary hotel. According to the complaint, the plaintiff began to receive text messages, supposedly from a friend. The plaintiff contends that she did not share her phone number with people outside of friends and family, so she felt secure inviting this friend up to her room later that night.

The plaintiff says that she left her hotel room door unlocked for the visit she thought would be from her friend; however, Brar, the Calgary hotel’s employee and night manager, allegedly came into the plaintiff’s room and sexually assaulted her.

“The plaintiff was terrified and fearful for her safety and allowed the unprotected intercourse to occur, so as not to put herself at greater risk,” states the Calgary hotel lawsuit.

According to the plaintiff, Brar had accessed her cell phone number from the front desk and then impersonated the plaintiff’s friend.

“She was carrying out a fantasy described in the texts but it was equally clear he did all that he did to not reveal his identity,” said Justice Robert Hall in the criminal action filed against Brar after the assault.

The Calgary Herald reported on the criminal complaint against the Calgary hotel employee. According to that report, Brar specifically requested that the plaintiff blindfold herself and that they have intercourse such that she could not see his face.

Further, Brar reportedly lied about being in the plaintiff’s room after the sexual assault.

“She did not consent to sex performed with Mr. Brar … Mr. Brar had to know the complainant believed he was someone else,” noted Justice Hall, who oversaw the criminal action.

Brar has since been convicted of sexual assault, according to the Calgary Herald. As a result, he was sentenced to three years in prison and will be deported to India after serving the sentence.

According to the plaintiff’s victim impact statement in the criminal proceeding, she felt humiliated, betrayed, and guilty after the sexual assault.

“There is no way to clearly make someone understand what you have (felt) during a sexual assault,” she said in her statement. She also wrote that she feared that after the Calgary hotel employee left, he would come back and assault her again before the police could get there.

“Right after the crime was one of the most terrifying times in my life,” indicated the plaintiff’s impact statement. “I experienced a nightmare that I still have not woken up from and do not think that I ever will.”

The plaintiff accuses the Calgary hotel and the hotel’s directors of negligence in letting Brar remain an employee, knowing that he had a history of inappropriate sexual misconduct with hotel guests.

Do you think that the Calgary hotel, Canada’s Best Value Inn, and its directors should be held responsible for continuing to employ a person with a known history of sexual misconduct? Do you think this lawsuit is fair? Tell us your opinion in the comment section below!

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