West Hollywood Server Says He Was Harassed For Supporting Trump

WEST HOLLYWOOD, CA — A former server at a West Hollywood restaurant is suing the company after he says he was forced to quit after suffering harassment due to his support of former President Donald Trump.

Joseph Bliven said WeHo Bistro's owner repeatedly harassed him for his political views while he worked at the restaurant. Bliven, who is heterosexual, also says coworkers and customers made unwanted sexual advances towards him, but that after he complained, he was told to get used to it because that's how things were in West Hollywood.

Bliven's Los Angeles Superior Court lawsuit against the restaurant and its owner, Jeff Douek, alleges wrongful termination, discrimination based upon political affiliation and exercise of protected rights, sexual orientation harassment and failure to prevent harassment.

He seeks unspecified compensatory and punitive damages in the suit brought Tuesday. Douek could not be immediately reached.

According to the lawsuit, Bliven was hired as a server in 2013 and was well-liked by conservatives. However, he says he is a conservative Republican, in contrast to Douk, a liberal Democrat.

"Douek was vocal with employees and customers about his support for the Democratic party and his disdain for President Donald Trump and the Republican party," the suit states.

The suit claims Douek opened a bottle of champagne with customers and staff to celebrate the death of Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia in February 2016. After Trump became the front runner for the Republican nomination in the 2016 presidential election, the lawsuit says Douek "bullied, shamed and targeted" employees who supported the future president.

Douek also kept a toilet brush in the restaurant bathroom which had a doll replica of Trump on it, and the orange bristles of the were meant to be Trump's hair, the suit states.

Bliven said that after he told Douek he supported Trump, "a shift took place in Douek's demeanor" and that the owner started acting more hostile toward him. The former server cited multiple examples of what he felt was harassment, including parody red hats of Trump's "Make America Great Again" slogan, questions on if he was part of the Proud Boys or believed in the "deep state," and similar quips.

According to the lawsuit, the owner also thought it was funny when Trump contracted coronavirus after downplaying the severity of the disease for so long.

"Douek told Bliven he hoped the president died from the disease," the suit states. "Douek then began laughing."

Bliven says he returned from a trip to Florida in November 2020, and was not allowed to resume working until he took a coronavirus test, which he says other employees who left the state were not forced to do. He said he felt the demand was "discriminatory" and forced him to quit.

City News Service contributed to this report.