Many travelers know that hotels provide guests with shampoo and soap in small packs and bottles for convenience.
A lot of guests, especially Filipinos, often bring these items home as ‘souvenir’ from the hotel they had been staying at. Of course, there’s nothing wrong with that as you have paid for the item as part of the hotel room’s cost.
But a Filipina is now in trouble in Hong Kong after her employer took her to court for allegedly taking three bottles of hotel shampoo that the said employer had brought home after a trip.
The employer had complained to the cops that the domestic helper, Thelma Damiago, had taken three bottles contained shampoo, conditioner, and lotion from the employer without her permission. The matter was supposedly witnessed by the other Filipino maid who will take the witness stand during trial.
The incident had supposedly happened in October 2018, after the employer went on a trip. When she got back home, the said Filipina maid allegedly took the items and used this for her own consumption.
But because she was not given permission to use the hotel shampoo, the employer was able to file charges against her. Thankfully, the Filipina was allowed to post bail.
Last January 22, she appeared before Eastern Magistrate Peter Law where she pleaded “not guilty” to the charges filed against her.
In her defense, Damiago claimed the employer had been treating her badly. She had only been with the employer for 2 months when the incident happened. Moreover, the domestic helper had actually given her a month’s notice of termination just 2 weeks before the supposed incident happened, citing verbal maltreatment by the employer.
Photo credit: The Sun HK
While many people believe the matter is so petty and that the employer would be spending more money on her lawyers than on the actual cost of the hotel shampoo, she is not backing down and plans to pursue the matter.
