$10-Million Suit Claims Harassment by Managers at Universal Studios Tour

A former employee filed a $10-million lawsuit against the MCA/Universal Studios Hollywood tour on Thursday claiming management “tolerated and fostered” sexual harassment of female employees on the grounds of the theme park for nearly a decade.

Wendy-Sue Rosen’s suit, one of the largest sexual harassment claims ever filed in Los Angeles, accuses managers at the heavily attended, family-oriented tour of seeking sexual favors from her, of displaying pornographic photographs in work areas, and grabbing and pinching her breasts and buttocks.

“MCA does its best to promote their park as a bastion of wholesome entertainment, but what’s going on behind closed doors is clearly a betrayal of any family values,” Rosen, 30, said Thursday.

Representatives for MCA/Universal Hollywood, which is owned by the Japanese electronics giant Matsushita Electrical Industrial Co. Ltd., declined to comment Thursday, saying they had not yet been served with the lawsuit.

Those specifically named in the suit were unavailable.

Rosen worked at the tour for 13 years in various capacities, the last as an auditor at the tour’s box office.

In her suit, Rosen alleges that two of her bosses--Carey Doss, manager of parking services, and Herman Mogollon, manager of tour operations--repeatedly harassed her, going so far as to trap her in an office, where Doss allegedly masturbated in front of her. Rosen said her complaints to her bosses’ superiors were ignored.

“Upper management is well aware of what these guys are up to and have chosen to do absolutely nothing about it,” Rosen said. “When I complained, all they did was try to force me to quit. The guys who harass and assault the women don’t get punished. In fact, they get promoted. It’s nothing but a sick boy’s club.”

In addition to Universal Studios Hollywood, the 36-page Superior Court complaint names MCA/Universal; Doss; Mogollon; Michael Taylor, director of tour operations, and Felix Mussenden, vice president of operations.

The suit was filed by the Los Angeles law firm of Hadsell & Stormer, which has represented a number of sex harassment plaintiffs in recent years, including winning a record $3.1-million judgment against the Long Beach Police Department last year.

Rosen started at Universal Studios Hollywood when she was 16. She said she resigned her post at the tour’s box office under pressure on Feb. 14.

She alleged that Mogollon, who became her manager in 1982, offered paid vacations in exchange for sex, asked her to show him her breasts and rubbed his erect penis against her body.

“I was humiliated and degraded, but my case is no isolated incident,” Rosen added. “Sexual harassment on the grounds of the theme park is pervasive. What you have here is a bunch of guys who go out every year and hire this horde of 16-year-old and 17-year-old women and try to take advantage of them.”

Rosen’s attorney, Dan Stormer, said he has interviewed nearly a dozen other MCA employees who also claim they were harassed while working at the park, at least one of whom intends to file an additional suit.

Stormer says he has photographs of nude male employees surrounding what he says is an unwilling and clothed female employee.

He said that women whom he has interviewed at the tour told him that the photograph was posted in full view in an employee area.