Nonsense!
Overseas television and newspaper reports in which Jamaica and Sandals Resorts International are accused of covering up allegations of sexual assault have been received with scepticism by readers and viewers on the Internet.
The comments are posted below the stories published in the online editions of ABC‘s Good Morning America, Fox News, and CBS‘s Inside Edition and which were viewed by millions of people.
Sandals has vehemently denied the allegations of a cover-up made by professional make-up artist Melissa Blayton, and couple Jeff and Ashley Pascarella.
In response to Blayton’s claims, Sandals — a sister company to this newspaper — said “There are many details missing from her story, including her interactions with resort team members, her requests regarding law enforcement involvement, and her subsequent requests of the resort after her departure.
“Further, it was surprising to hear about Ms Blayton’s allegations, since we have been in contact with her multiple times over the last few months and she has indicated plans for a return visit to Sandals Resorts in 2019. We look forward to having her back.”
In the Pascarellas’ case, Sandals said “these allegations present a self-serving, one-sided and incomplete version of an incident reported in 2016. The plaintiffs have unfortunately embarked to influence the case based on their one-sided narrative in the media. Sandals intends to vigorously defend itself in court against these one-sided allegations and looks forward to presenting the full picture of all the facts and circumstances surrounding this reported incident from 2016 within the appropriate legal forum.”
Last week, the Pascarellas’ attorney, John Nicholas Iannuzzi, told Jamaican journalists Cliff Hughes and Tyrone Reid on Nationwide News Network that his clients have filed a US$30-million suit against Sandals in the New York Supreme Court.
The publications have triggered hundreds of online comments with more than 95 per cent of the posts questioning the credibility of the complainants and expressing scepticism about their claims of a cover up.
“Something sounds weird about this story,” wrote one reader.
“This story smells fishy,” another posted.
“Looks sooo rehearsed. This was an episode on Law and Order with the same storyline,” added another reader, while another stated: “I hope the truth comes out. It’s sad the media jumps on the bandwagon to ruin the reputation of a company without fully seeing the repercussions that it has.”
Yet another reader posted: “Something just doesn’t add up,” while others commented: “Sketchy story”, “Something is off about this story”, and “Nonsense story.”
Yesterday, a local public relations expert, who opted not to be named, said: “The public are not buying into the allegations made against a company that has become synonymous with hard work and dedication to service. This is a show of support which must certainly make Sandals’ management and the thousands of employees very grateful.”
Yesterday, Sandals reiterated that on the rare occasion such an incident might occur, there are strict security protocols and highly trained personnel in place to ensure that the right and proper action is taken, including the involvement of law enforcement.
Pointing out that millions of guests stay at its resorts over the years, Sandals noted that it will care for over 700,000 guests in 2019 alone.
The Jamaican-operated Caribbean resort chain highlighted the fact that it is one of the world’s most respected tourism brands, having grown from its humble beginnings in 1981 when its chairman, Gordon “Butch” Stewart, started operating a small hotel in Montego Bay.
Since then, Stewart has been recognised as hotelier of the year many times over and the Sandals and Beaches resorts have become the most awarded resort brand in the region.
Today, the resort group, which employs 15,000 people, operates properties in seven Caribbean islands and has copped the award as World’s Best All-Inclusive Company for the past 23 consecutive years at the prestigious World Travel Awards.
“The secret to success is a simple but powerful philosophy of treating people with kindness and respect …and of giving the guest more than he or she expects,” Stewart has been reported as saying on numerous occasions.
The company reiterated that point last week in its response to the media reports, stating: “We are a family-operated enterprise that cares deeply about each and every guest we welcome into our resort home.”
That statement was corroborated by Tourism Minister Ed Bartlett who noted that the Sandals and Beaches resorts, as well as Jamaica, enjoyed a high repeat guest rate.
“The level of repeat business we get is phenomenal, and Sandals has the highest record of repeat business in the Caribbean,” Bartlett told the Jamaica Observer.
“The consumer strength that Sandals has is phenomenal. We just had one case where somebody was making their 400th visit to Sandals. In fact, Sandals has hundreds of guests who have racked up over 500 paid nights at their resorts, and there are families who have come back yearly for 25 years and more. So the record that we have is very strong,” he said.
In 2009, Stewart’s son Adam, deputy chairman of the resort company, founded the Sandals Foundation which has impacted the lives of tens of thousands of Caribbean nationals, and puts every dollar raised directly toward helping people, with Sandals covering all administrative costs.
The foundation has invested approximately US$50 million since inception on projects in education, the environment, and community development, and has been annually audited in order to ensure its credibility.
The support that Sandals guests have given to the foundation’s work over the years has prompted the elder Stewart to say he never dreamt his guests were as generous as they have shown.
Yesterday, he commended the resort chain’s management and staff for their annual Christmas day activity of going into communities in which Sandals properties are located and delivering presents to tens of thousands of children who may not be in a position to have received a proper gift.
“This is one of the activities that just warms my heart, and it speaks to the philosophy of service and caring for our fellow human beings that permeates the company,” Stewart said.