The Hotel Shangri-La in Santa Monica and its owner discriminated against members of a Jewish organization at a charitable event two years ago, a Santa Monica Superior Court jury determined Wednesday.
The case was brought by young leaders of Friends of the Israel Defense Forces, who had gathered on the afternoon of July 11, 2010, at the Art Deco hotel. Soon after their party got underway around the pool, hotel staff and security guards began telling group members to remove their literature and banners, to get out of the pool and hot tub, and to stop handing out T-shirts, according to legal documents and testimony.
The employees said they were following the orders of Tehmina Adaya, the hotel owner ”” a Muslim woman of Pakistani descent.
Well, if those are indeed the actual facts, that seems pretty open and shut. The million+ dollar damages awarded will probably be appealed. That does seem a bit excessive.