Lawsuit settled
Haitian workers said they were called ‘slaves’
A Miami Beach hotel will pay $2.5 million to settle a discrimination lawsuit filed by Haitian dishwashers who said they were fired because of their race and nationality and were called “slaves” by supervising chefs.
On Monday, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission said that the SLS Hotel South Beach will pay 17 Haitian employees who filed the suit in April 2017.
The Haitian staffers said in the lawsuit that they were fired because of their nationality and race and that their supervising chefs called them “slaves” at the luxury hotel which is operated by the SBE Entertainment Group, a hotel and nightlife company based in Los Angeles.
The terminated employees worked in the kitchens of The Bazaar by José Andrés, Katsuya, and the Hyde Beach — all restaurant venues at SLS Hotel at 1701 Collins Ave. in Miami Beach.
The lawsuit states that the dishwashers said they were also singled out for speaking Creole among one another while Hispanic employees were allowed to speak Spanish. When the dishwashers reported the discrimination to the company’s human resources, the entire dishwashing division — which was primarily made up of black Haitians — was fired in April 2014, according to the lawsuit.
The dishwashers also said that a staffing agency replaced them with “mostly light-skinned Hispanics,” according to the EEOC.
The settlement funds will go to 17 black Haitian dishwashers, 15 of whom are represented by The Alderman Firm in Miami Shores.
The terms of the settlement include providing comprehensive training for human resources officials, management personnel, and hourly employees across six of SBE’s hotels in the region, which include the Shore Club, Delano, The Raleigh in Miami Beach, and SLS Lux Miami and SLS Brickell in Miami over a three-year period.
Additionally, the EEOC also will track layoffs and firings during that time at the company’s local hotels.
“EEOC will continue to protect workers in the hospitality industry, including the black Haitian community that makes up a significant part of the South Florida workforce,” Michael Farrell, district director for the EEOC’s Miami District Office, said in a release.
James Greeley, chief legal officer for SBE, said the company denies the allegations in the lawsuit but settled so all the parties could move forward.
“We felt if we could resolve this amicably and help take care of these former employees, that was the right thing to do,” said Greeley, who noted that the company has more than 200 employees of Haitian descent at its Miami properties.
“In settling this, it was not to be construed as an admission that the allegations were true. We didn’t want to continue a nasty battle with employees that we cared about.”
“In settling this, it was not to be construed as an admission that the allegations were true.”
James Greeley, chief legal officer for SBE