‘Blindsided’ bunny dealers plan to fight
A group of Playboy Club bunny dealers who were fired at the Palms are madder than a honey badger.
They plan to meet today with the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, alleging they were terminated without notice, according to Susie Wilcox, one of the 12 bounced bunny dealers.
“They told us a day before that we had a mandatory meeting,” Wilcox said. “They said our position was being eliminated.”
The Palms plans to replace the bunny dealers, who were subject to tightly controlled Playboy requirements, with contract dealers hired away from other party pits around town.
“I personally believe Hugh Hefner would be appalled,” Wilcox said.
“They’re changing the definition of what it is to be a bunny. To be a bunny was iconic, not attainable to any girl who wants to put on cuffs, and collars and their bunny ears. It’s more than looks.”
Wilcox added, “We were blindsided and replaced.”
A Palms executive confirmed the move to hire contract bunny dealers at the Playboy Club, which opened five years ago in the Fantasy Tower. It was the first Playboy Club to open in 25 years.
“There were issues,” the source said. “(Management) decided to go the contract route.”
Wilcox said the bunny mom who was in charge of upholding Playboy’s standards was recently let go, as well.
When the bunny dealers were dismissed Nov. 2, they were informed they could not return to the property for 90 days, Wilcox said.
CAESARS, COSMO SCORE
Food critics John Curtas, Max Jacobson and Al Mancini unveiled their “Eating Las Vegas 2012: The 50 Essential Restaurants” (Huntington Press, $12.95, 220 pages) food guide this week at a release party at Restaurant Guy Savoy in Caesars Palace.
If there were an award for newcomer of the year, it would go to The Cosmopolitan. No argument there. The Cosmopolitan had four entries among the top 50 including Top 10 entry Estiatoria Milos plus Jose Andres’ Jaleo and China Poblano and DOCG Enoteca.
Resurgent Caesars Palace, after a decade of rebuilding the brand, had the most, with five.
The top 10: Milos, Le Cirque and Michael Mina (both of Bellagio), Joel Robuchon and L’Atelier de Joel Robuchon (both of MGM Grand), Twist at Mandarin Oriental, Restaurant Guy Savoy, CUT at Palazzo, Bar Masa at Aria and Picasso (Bellagio).
The “Vetoes” chapter crackles with scorching opinions from the trio.
And Steve Wynn probably has an equally searing opinion, after Bartolotta Ristorante di Mare was snubbed for the Top 10 and SW Steakhouse was denigrated as having “all the charm of a bus station.”
Curtas’ well-known bias against all-things Wynn reached critical mass in January when he said he was thrown out of a closing-night party in January at Wynn’s Alex restaurant.
Curtas went for his pound of flesh in the book by suggesting “the menu and cooking here goes nowhere” at Wynn properties and added Wynn has abandoned his original chef-driven restaurant approach.
When Curtas vetoed Society Cafe at Encore for the top 50, Jacobson chided his co-author for getting too personal, suggesting “someone (at Society) forgot to shine his shoes.” The exclusion of Society, Jacobson wrote, “has to be the biggest crime in this book.”
THE SCENE AND HEARD
Former Las Vegan Mariah Yeater has withdrawn her paternity lawsuit against singer Justin Bieber, according to media reports.
THE PUNCH LINE
“Libya? I remember Lydia, but I don’t remember a Libya.” — From David Letterman’s Top Ten Thoughts That Went Through Herman Cain’s Mind During The “Libya” Moment
Norm Clarke can be reached at 702-383-0244 or norm@reviewjournal.com. Find additional sightings and more online at www.normclarke.com. Follow Norm on Twitter @Norm_Clarke.