By Shane Tenorio Healy
For Variety
HAGÅTÑA (The Guam Daily Post) — A lawsuit filed in the District Court of Guam Monday afternoon is seeking $61,500,000 from the Guam Visitors Bureau based on allegations its former president Carl T.C. Gutierrez subjected an employee to “escalating acts of unwanted sexual harassment, coercion, and sexual harassment during official travel and in GVB offices” between October 2022 and August 2024.
Gutierrez, 84, served as Guam’s governor from 1995 to 2003.
The employee or plaintiff, identified as “Jane Doe,” filed the suit with the assistance of law firm Razzano Walsh and Torres, P.C., and stated the first of a series of incidents started in Gutierrez’s hotel room during a work trip to Osaka, Japan, on Oct. 30, 2022. According to the plaintiff, Gutierrez “insisted” the employee follow him to his room for medication, and he subsequently “grabbed her arm, stated he wanted to kiss her, physically prevented her from leaving,” and sexually assaulted her.
The next two incidents reported occurred similarly during GVB trips to Osaka, with the plaintiff alleging she was sexually assaulted in her hotel room.
According to the lawsuit, between Nov. 19 and 22, 2022, less than a month after the first incident, the plaintiff was suffering from a migraine when Gutierrez allegedly “entered her room without consent, ignored her request to leave” and sexually assaulted her “while she was disoriented.”
The third Osaka incident allegedly occurred a year later, between Oct. 23 and 30, 2023.
The last two incidents detailed in the lawsuit stem from a June 2024 work trip to Saipan and an Aug. 20, 2024, incident when the plaintiff was “summoned” to Gutierrez’s office, where he sexually assaulted her until a knock on the door allowed her to leave, documents state.
Investigation
According to the lawsuit, two days after the incident in Gutierrez’s office, the plaintiff reported the incident to GVB’s legal counsel, who in response “discouraged her from reporting and indicated that the GVB Board of Directors would minimize it ‘or sweep it under the rug.'”
Plaintiff eventually did file an official written complaint detailing all incidents between October 2022 and August 2024 with board chair George Chiu. About a week later the complaint was acknowledged and an investigation was launched. According to the suit, the plaintiff, as part of the investigation, was interviewed by a third-party law firm “engaged by GVB to investigate her assertions.” However, Gutierrez, who had already resigned, refused to take part in the interview held in December 2024, resulting in “no disciplinary action taken.”
Despite the investigation finding the employee’s accounts were credible and structural improvements of GVB were recommended, she did not receive any update regarding her complaint until April 21, 2025. The update she did receive summarized findings and noted possible policy violations but did not mention discipline or systemic corrective action.
Less than a month later, Regine Biscoe Lee took over as GVB president and suggested the plaintiff be reassigned, but no “formal plan was provided.”
Culture
Although Gutierrez’s alleged misconduct serves as the basis for the lawsuit, the plaintiff has named GVB as the defendant to be held liable for damages because of a “widespread, longstanding, and well-settled custom and practice of tolerating, concealing, and facilitating sexualized misconduct by senior leadership during official agency travel and within GVB offices.”
“That custom included routine use of official, government-funded travel as a pretext for visits to brothels and other sexually themed establishments at the direction of senior leadership; assignment of younger female subordinates to accompany senior male officials on official travel without any legitimate business necessity; tolerance of repeated verbal and physical sexual conduct toward female subordinates; arbitrary enforcement of any nominal anti-harassment policy; informal pressure on employees to acquiesce or remain silent; and the absence of any meaningful board-level oversight of the president’s conduct on official agency business,” the lawsuit states.
Additionally, the plaintiff alleged that since the custom “had the force of official policy,” she delayed reporting, fearing retaliation, but also because she had no real understanding of how to make complaints. As a result, GVB is accused of failing to employ certified human resources personnel to investigate such complaints and also not providing annual sexual harassment trainings for employees.
Chiu, as board chair of GVB, is also being accused of perpetuating the custom for his alleged involvement in the work trip to Saipan that the plaintiff went on with Gutierrez.
According to the lawsuit, the plaintiff was initially not scheduled to go on the trip, as it was supposed to be just Gutierrez and another employee. However, Gutierrez at the last minute “ordered” the plaintiff to attend the trip to Saipan, and Gutierrez ensured he and the plaintiff stayed at the Crowne Plaza Resort, while the employee originally scheduled to travel stayed at another hotel that was booked by GVB.
The suit alleged that Chiu, who is the executive vice president of Tan Holdings Corporation, which owns Crowne Plaza Resort, after learning that the plaintiff was traveling to Saipan despite not being approved by GVB, should have questioned why she was there and done something to ensure the plaintiff did not stay at the same hotel as Gutierrez.
“Chairman Chiu should have recognized that the president (Gutierrez) was engaging in his predatory predilections again and likely subjecting (the) plaintiff to sexual harassment,” the lawsuit states.
For the reasons stated in the lawsuit, along with the plaintiff continuing to suffer from “severe emotional distress, anxiety, post-traumatic stress disorder, loss of enjoyment of her employment, lost wages and benefits, future medical and therapeutic expenses, and other compensatory damages,” she is requesting no less than a total of $61,500,000 in compensation.
Additionally, the lawsuit is demanding a trial be held to determine the amount, award attorneys’ fees, and ensure there is a change in practices at GVB.
Response
After the suit was filed, GVB issued a release indicating no comments on ongoing litigation would be made but shared their stance on the nature of the allegations.
“Although the executive has not been named as a defendant in the lawsuit and does not currently serve in any capacity with the bureau, GVB does not tolerate such conduct and takes these allegations seriously,” the statement said.
“GVB remains deeply committed to maintaining a workplace built on respect and dignity for every employee. GVB maintains a zero-tolerance policy toward harassment at any level and will continue to address all such allegations with full seriousness,” GVB added.
As stated in the lawsuit, GVB dealt with the allegations, so in response, they believe they are in compliance with applicable laws and regulations.
“The bureau engaged an independent, off-island investigator to conduct a thorough review of the allegations, as well as the bureau’s policies and procedures, and its response to the allegations as required by law and called for in its anti-harassment policies and procedures. The extensive effort to address allegations gives GVB confidence that it is in compliance with relevant and applicable laws and regulations,” GVB stated.
