In the decade since the sexual assault case of former IMF chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn involving a maid at the Sofitel in Manhattan , panic button systems increasingly have been mandated to protect hotel employees against sexual misconduct, whether through collective bargaining — as negotiated by the New York Hotel Trades Council — or through ordinances in cities including Seattle, Miami, Long Beach and Santa Monica.
The push is already getting pushback, though, from one L.A.-area hotel. According to Kurt Petersen, co-president of hotel workers union Unite Here 11, management at Mr. C Beverly Hills made clear during recent contract negotiations that it won’t pay for a system, citing cost. “It speaks volumes about their values, for them to say it’s not worth the money,” says Petersen, who notes that Mr. C does not staff a 24-hour security office.
Sir Richard Branson and members of the Missoni fashion dynasty have checked in to the 12-floor, 138-room Mr. C, whose interiors, defined by highly polished rosewood walls and Murano glass chandeliers, recall a luxury yacht. Its eponymous lobby-level restaurant features the same carpaccio recipe which the brothers’ great-grandfather Guiseppe invented in 1950 at his famed Harry’s Bar in Venice.