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Adventureland Hit with Lawsuit Alleging Workplace Harassment and Discrimination


— May 25, 2018

After being the target of workplace harassment and sexual and disability discrimination, a former employee at Adventureland decided to file a lawsuit against the amusement park. The former employee, Alisha Munoz, 29, claimed in the lawsuit that while employed at the amusement park “from May to September 2017, she was harassed by managers because of her medical conditions.”


After being the target of workplace harassment and sexual and disability discrimination, a former employee at Adventureland decided to file a lawsuit against the amusement park. The former employee, Alisha Munoz, 29, claimed in the lawsuit that while employed at the amusement park “from May to September 2017, she was harassed by managers because of her medical conditions.”

According to her lawsuit, Munoz alleges that even though her managers were “aware of her disabilities” because she disclosed them during her interview for the job, her supervisors “bullied her in front of employees.” For example, on one occasion her manager allegedly “told her she could not pass a drug test ‘with all that c— that you are on,’ referring to her prescriptions, while others ridiculed her for how often she used the bathroom.” In another incident, another manager allegedly asked her, “Why are you even working here since you are restricted and can’t do anything anyway?”

Image of a handicap sign
Handicap sign; image courtesy of kreatikar via Pixabay, www,pixabay.com

Less than a year after starting her job at Adventureland, Munoz was fired. It wasn’t long after being terminated that she began looking into ways to get justice, and filed her lawsuit as a result. Since coming forward about the discrimination she endured, Munoz has also “described the workplace as hostile,” recalling incidents that made her stomach turn. One of those incidents involved her “watching a manager tell a 15-year-old bisexual employee to pick up a water bottle and ‘suck it like a d—.‘” She added, “It was disgusting…I thought it would be a fun place to work; turns out it was the wrong place to work.”

Other unfortunate incidents involved supervisors calling her “‘b—-‘ in front of customers and co-workers, while another asked her if she wanted to ‘look like a man’ while commenting on a short haircut.”

What kind of disabilities did Munoz have, though? Why was she fired? For starters, during her interview for the job, Munoz informed Adventureland’s human resources manager that she suffered “from Addison’s disease, Lupus and Clostridium difficile.” As for why she was fired? Well, according to the lawsuit her termination was retaliation against her for reporting the harassment.

When Munoz first decided to pursue legal action against the amusement park she “filed charges of employment discrimination Sept. 4 with the Iowa Civil Rights Commission, which in March issued a right to sue letter,” according to the suit. In her lawsuit, Munoz alleged Adventureland “failed to accommodate her disability in violation of the Iowa Civil Rights Act.”

How has Adventureland responded to the lawsuit? Well, so far the park’s spokesperson, Molly Vincent, issued an email saying the park “does not comment on pending litigation.

Sources:

Ex-employee sues Adventureland over claims of disability, sexual discrimination

Adventureland Facing Discrimination Lawsuit from Former Employee

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