A former food and beverage manager for the L’Ermitage Beverly Hills hotel has settled her lawsuit against the luxury establishment, in which she alleged she was wrongfully fired in 2022 for complaining of sexual harassment by guests and the hotel’s front office director.
The plaintiff also contended she was sent to the room of a suicidal guest to remove sharp objects from the unit, where she found the patron naked and with cuts on her neck. Identified only as Jane Doe in the Los Angeles Superior Court lawsuit, the plaintiff alleged sexual battery and harassment, failure to prevent harassment, gender discrimination, retaliation and intentional infliction of emotional distress.
On Thursday, Doe’s attorneys filed court papers with Judge Maurice A. Leiter notifying him that the case was resolved, but no terms were divulged.
L’Ermitage is an eight-story hotel with 116 rooms, all of which are suites that average 805 square feet, making them the largest in the Beverly Hills hotel market. The units feature marble bathrooms, private balconies and separate dressing, sleeping and sitting areas.
Doe was hired as the hotel’s food and beverage manager in March 2022 and began work a month later. In May 2022, a regular L’Ermitage guest asked the plaintiff about her dating life, telling her she would be happier with him, the suit stated.
That same day, Doe told the hotel manager that the patron was making her uncomfortable by being overly flirtatious, but the manager did nothing to prevent the guest from harassing her again, the suit filed in May 2023 alleged.
The guest returned a month later with a female companion and when the woman went to the restroom, the man asked for Doe and later “grabbed her hand, gave her a $100 bill and telling her, “You will see me with a lot of beautiful girls, but I will always have my eyes on you,” the suit stated.
Doe complained about the guest again to the hotel manager, who took no action, so she then complained to a L’Ermitage bartender and several servers, the suit stated. But the guest was allowed to return to the hotel at least three times and management did nothing as he continued demanding that the plaintiff personally serve him, according to the complaint.
In July 2022, the hotel general manager told Doe to remove sharp objects from the room of a suicidal guest, who when Doe encountered her was naked with fresh cuts to her neck, according to the suit, which further stated that Doe found blood on the bed and floor. Doe was left emotionally shaken from the assignment, which she believed should have been handled by hotel security, the suit stated.
Doe also was subjected to flirtatious remarks last summer from the L’Ermitage director of front office, who also inappropriately touched her, according to the suit.
In October 2022, a guest complained that Doe was rude and even though the patron was intoxicated, the plaintiff was placed on a three-day coaching suspension, the suit stated. When she returned, the front office director called her into his office, told her that it was his birthday and “opened his arms for her to hug him,” which she did so reluctantly as to not embarrass him, the suit stated.
Doe reported the front desk manager to the food and beverage supervisor, but again nothing happened, the suit stated. She allegedly was again harassed that same month by another guest who asked her to wait on him and cook his eggs. Then, again that same month, the hotel manager reprimanded Doe, alleging that she had told a patron that she was annoyed over having to train a new employee, the suit stated.
Doe denied making the statement to the guest, but she was fired a day later, according to the suit. When she tried to get a job at the Louis Vuitton store in Beverly Hills where she previously worked, she was given a poor and untruthful review by the L’Ermitage representative who had spoken to the Louis Vuitton recruiting manager, the suit stated.
Doe alleged that she was fired because of her harassment complaints.