A woman who accused a Paris hostel staffer of sexual harassment is being slammed by hotel management who say the woman's outfit is to blame for the incident.
Mariah Nonnemacher, a 26-year-old actress and director from Arkansas, was eating breakfast with her friends at Enjoy Hostel when the alleged incident occurred.
Ms Nonnemacher said a man made her feel uncomfortable when he started asking the women if they had boyfriends and asked if he could get their phone numbers.
His behaviour continued even after the women rejected his advances.
The following day, Ms Nonnemacher was getting ready to check out of the hostel when the man allegedly stopped her on the steps, gestured at her chest and told her to pull her top up.
Ms Nonnemacher said he told her she was "showing too much cleavage" which was "not appropriate".
She said she was wearing jeans, boots and a V-neck top with her boyfriend's plaid shirt overtop - an outfit she insists was not provocative.
She emailed the hostel complaining, and was told by the manager that an investigation would be carried out.
However his next response shocked her when she was told the investigation had concluded, and that she was ultimately at fault.
"After investigation, I am really sorry to tell you that, it turns out that you were dressed provocatively with a plunging neckline," the manager wrote.
"This is a mistake, because when traveling and frequenting a hotel where there are many men, it is more prudent, to avoid any harassment to dress as well".
Infuriated by the response, Ms Nonnemacher shared the emails on Twitter and Facebook to warn other females about the hostel.
"If anything were to happen with one of their staff members, they don't respect personal boundaries - if you were dressed 'risqué' it's your fault. Stay away from this place - it's bad," she said.
When BuzzFeed News contacted the manager about his response and asked if management took sexual harassment complaints seriously, he stood by his comments.
"A young lady coming to the breakfast room and dressed very provocatively," he explained.
"We said, 'Miss beware cause it is a public area here with many men, and we want to protect you'."
Newshub.
