Beverly Hills Hotel Sued By First Female Banquet Manager

LOS ANGELES, CA — The first female banquet manager in the history of the Beverly Hills Hotel is suing the legendary Sunset Boulevard establishment, alleging management did not do enough when she complained about a male director creating a hostile work environment and mocking her for speaking out about gender pay disparity.

Elizabeth Jane Birr's Los Angeles Superior Court lawsuit allegations include sexual harassment, retaliation, gender discrimination and both intentional and negligent infliction of emotional distress. She seeks unspecified compensatory and punitive damages in the suit filed Wednesday.

A hotel representative said the establishment does not comment on guest or employee-related matters. Guests of the Beverly Hills Hotel have included Marilyn Monroe, Elizabeth Taylor, Howard Hughes and President John F. Kennedy.

Birr was hired in May 2022 and promoted in December of that year to banquet manager, where she was responsible for overseeing and executing high- profile events, including multimillion dollar weddings and VIP corporate functions.

"Notably, plaintiff Birr was the first female banquet manager in the hotel's history, a milestone that should have been celebrated, but instead became the basis for discrimination, hostility and harassment," the suit alleges.

According to the complaint, the director of banquets targeted Birr for sexual harassment and gender discrimination by showing her sexually explicit material on his work computer, making crude jokes, stating homophobic and racist remarks and overall creating a toxic work environment, the suit states.

The director mocked Birr's abilities as a female manager, frequently undermining her authority and berating her in both private and public settings, according to the suit, which alleges that the director once told her, "You'll do what I tell you when I say it."

Birr also alleges that male counterparts received three times higher pay increases than she did. When Birr protested the alleged unequal treatment to the director, he replied, "It must be because you're a woman," the suit states.

Birr submitted a complaint about the alleged harassment and pay disparity to management in May 2024, but the "sham" investigation protected the director and marginalized Birr, the suit alleges. Birr was excluded from managing major events, such as the Netflix banquet, and was instead assigned demeaning tasks, that included cleaning duties and time card management, the suit further states.

Suffering from high blood pressure and panic attacks, Birr went on medical leave in June 2024, the suit states. Even while on leave, management continued its alleged mistreatment of Birr, refusing to provide clarity on her employment status, misleading her about her return-to-work process and stonewalling her attempts to communicate with human resources, the suit states.

Birr has suffered lost income and benefits as well as humiliation and emotional distress, the suit states.

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