This past September, dozens of Chateau Marmont employees broke the hospitality industry’s code of silence. They alleged to The Hollywood Reporter that the landmark hotel, a fabled industry hangout, is rife with racial discrimination and sexual misconduct, perpetuated by complicit management and ownership.
Now two civil actions, both brought by actor-staffers who lost their jobs when the pandemic devastated the lodging sector, seek to make the case in court.
The first was quietly filed at the federal level in December by Adrian Jules, a Black guest relations employee who began at the West Hollywood hotel in 2017, against Chateau owner Andre Balazs and his hotel group, which also owns Manhattan’s Mercer.