Rimai responds to hotel allegations

Monica Rimai, the vice president for finance and administration at Portland State, sent out an email to PSU faculty and staff Tuesday morning in an attempt to set the record straight about recent allegations at University Place Hotel.

The PSU-owned hotel has been the center of media attention lately because of allegations that bosses have stolen tips, demanded kickbacks and practiced nepotism—giving special favor to hired family members.

Rimai explained that the purpose of her email was to clarify what transpired at the hotel.

“In the past week, there has been media attention on University Place Hotel,” Rimai said. “The purpose of this e-mail is to clarify what has occurred at University Place.”

She went on to describe how PSU’s Human Resources department received an anonymous letter in late February of this year, which included some “concerns” about hotel management.

“PSU acted quickly to put the management on administrative leave,” Rimai said.

According to Rimai, PSU subsequently opened an investigation into these concerns. After looking into all the allegations made, they were only able to find evidence supporting one of the claims.

PSU discovered that a supervisor had been overseeing relatives and the employee was voluntarily reassigned, the email said.

PSU also terminated a general manager and housekeeping supervisor, citing a loss of trust, the message continued.

“We found no evidence to substantiate accusations of fraudulent activities, but we found a loss of trust between management and staff,” Rimai said.

Rimai clarified that in the course of the investigation a problem with management was identified, but PSU has since corrected it.

“We investigated and found a supervisory problem that was rectified through a reassignment,” Rimai said. “Other allegations were not substantiated.”

Even with a lack of evidence supporting allegations of stolen tips and kickbacks—in which workers receive pay for hours not worked and then are commanded to pay back the money to managers or supervisors—PSU still made the decision to make some changes within hotel management, she said.

“[W]e made a management change to make a fresh start, and we continue to review policies at University Place to ensure a fair and effective workplace,” Rimai said.

Rimai closed the e-mail by encouraging anyone who has concerns regarding work issues at the university to get in touch with the Human Resources department.