A River North hotel has reached a $1.2 million settlement over allegations it negligently employed a massage therapist who allegedly sexually assaulted a client at the hotel spa in September 2020.
The Langham, at 330 N. Wabash Ave., settled a similar case for $1 million in August 2022, said the attorney for both women, Carolyn Daley. Both women were allegedly assaulted by massage therapist Joseph Mitchell at the hotel’s Chuan Spa on the same day in September 2020, Daley said.
An attorney for Mitchell declined to comment Wednesday.
The more recent lawsuit, filed in Cook County Circuit Court last year, alleged The Langham employed Mitchell despite having received a complaint about him in 2019 from another woman who alleged he had sexually assaulted her and another woman at the spa. The lawsuit also alleged Mitchell had been fired from two previous massage therapy jobs after investigations into allegations of inappropriate sexual conduct against him.
The Langham “showed an utter disregard for the health and safety of their customers,” the complaint alleges.
“It’s shocking that they would allow him to continue to massage women,” Daley said.
Mitchell was indicted in two felony sexual assault and abuse cases in July 2021 involving the alleged September 2020 assaults. In one case, he is charged with four felony counts of sexual assault and abuse. In a second, he is charged with one felony count of criminal sexual abuse. A court date in those cases is scheduled next week.
In a statement, Megan Brilley, director of public relations for The Langham, said the hotel had terminated Mitchell “immediately” after a complaint was made against him in 2020.
“We take these matters extremely seriously and have cooperated fully with the legal process to ensure justice is being served,” Brilley said.
The hotel conducts “extensive background checks of its employees which, include appropriate criminal, employment and sex offender background checks,” Brilley said.
“We are committed to maintaining a culture of respect and accountability, ensuring that our employees conduct themselves with the highest standard of professionalism and integrity every day,” she said.
The lawsuit alleges The Langham continued to employ Mitchell despite being told by the customer in 2019 that he “went too high on her thigh with his hand twice during the massage, touched pressure points on her pubic bone in her pubic hair, exposed her breasts, and touched her vagina.”
The woman allegedly told the hotel that what Mitchell allegedly did “was wrong and felt abusive.”
The complaint alleges Mitchell had been fired by the East Bank Club, a high-end River North fitness club, and by a Massage Envy location after investigations into his alleged inappropriate sexual misconduct.
The East Bank Club and Massage Envy did not return requests to confirm Mitchell’s employment and termination history Wednesday.
The plaintiff in the most recent lawsuit against Langham alleged Mitchell did not leave the treatment room while she was changing and later exposed her genitalia during the massage.
The complaint alleges that after the woman who was allegedly assaulted in 2019 reported Mitchell to the hotel, the Langham did not hire an outside investigator to look into her allegations, but rather had its Human Resources director counsel Mitchell “on how not to make clients feel uncomfortable.”
The Langham laid off Mitchell in spring 2020 because of the COVID-19 pandemic and rehired him later that year, the lawsuit alleges.
“I’m angry and heartbroken that myself and others had to experience this,” the plaintiff in the most recent settlement said in a statement. “I am glad that we are starting to gain some traction for justice, but the Langham owes the public an explanation of why this happened, and why we all had to experience this trauma that I don’t think we will ever recover from.”
“I want to be the voice so that other women can come out and tell their story. If you had a similar experience at the Langham, please know that we will support you and you’re not alone,” the woman said.
Chicago Tribune’s Madeline Buckley contributed.
