Beverly Hills Hotel Sued for Harrassment

LA Weekly: Two women and three men who worked at the Beverly Hills Hotel are suing the storied venue for sexual harassment, discrimination, wrongful termination, and wage violations.

The juiciest parts of the suit, filed in L.A. Superior Court yesterday, allege that hotel GM Alberto Del Hoyo made it a habit of sexually grazing women after touching their hands or making other, more acceptable contact.

But plaintiffs also claim Del Hoyo (who, we're told, is Spanish, and not Latino), was racist: "Mr. Del Hoyo mentioned numerous times never to hire blacks because they were lazy," the plaintiffs' attorney, Rob Hennig, told the Weekly. "And he repeatedly referred to Mexicans on staff as wetbacks."

The suit alleges that Del Hoyo made it known that a particular African American waiter was not to serve him at lunch simply because he's black.

A lawyer for the hotel told NBC Los Angeles, which broke the story of the suit yesterday, that "... the allegations made by these former employees are wholly without merit and we will vigorously defend this matter on behalf of the defendants."

The suit claims that the hotel knew about some of the allegations since 2006 but failed to take action, resulting in resignations of some of the plaintiffs.

Del Hoyo, Henning said, would touch hostesses at the hotel's famed Polo Lounge in inappropriate ways -- repeatedly: “He would touch them in such a way, at the podium -- touch their hand and then get to graze their breasts. It happened all the time it wasn't by accident. It was pretty obvious.”

The women claiming this are Wendy Giron and Kelley Morales. One of the plaintiffs, Nino O'Brien, says he faced discrimination at the property because he's half Indian. Plaintiff Robert Sulatycky says he was ordered not to hire blacks and only to hire beautiful women for hostess jobs.

Plaintiff Tim Dupree claims he was wrongfully terminated for, well, for being a man (as opposed to being the kind of hot chick Del Hoyo allegedly preferred).