We see a lot of employee drama and inappropriate behavior on Vanderpump Rules which is filmed primarily at SUR and occasionally at the Vanderpump’s other restaurants PUMP and Villa Blanca. But there is a lot of real drama we don’t see, especially when it comes to Villa Blanca.
SEE A LISTING OF ALL THE POSTS ABOUT THE BUSTILLOS CASE HERE
I followed a case over the course of two years where a woman named Karina Bustillos sued Villa Blanca claiming sexual harassment in the workplace. I was pretty much the only site reporting on this case as I had a source inside the court room that kept me up to date. After the court ruled in favor of Bustillos, Lisa Vanderpump went on Twitter and TMZ claiming victory. That must be a housewife disorder. a particular housewife that I wound up in court with seemed to think she won as well. It’s odd to watch people blatantly lying about a provable fact. Some idiot even tweeted my reporting on the story to Lisa pointing out she was lying which resulted in her blocking me on Twitter. Thanks, asshole. But I digress.
Today it seems the Vanderpumps are prepared to admit they lost the case. Bustillos was awarded $100,000 by a jury in actual damages and the judge added another $1.49 million in attorney fees . EDITED: The 1.49 was for the plantiff’s attorney fees (the case lasted two years) I regret the misstatement, the title of the post I linked to should have clued me in. The judge also made both Lisa and Ken personally and individual liable for the damages. So now, over a year later, the Vanderpumps are suing their defense attorney claiming malpractice. If they did not begin the proceedings within a year of the court’s final ruling it will be thrown out because the statute of limitations has expired. Assuming they did begin the filing in time the malpractice attorney will generally take half of the judgment, presuming they prove their case, a much higher percentage than in regular civil actions.
CLICK HERE FOR MORE ON THE BUSTILLOS CASE AGAINST VILLA BLANCA
Based on information from my sources, the Vanderpumps do not have a case. They had their day in court and both a jury and a judge ruled in favor of Bustillos. The most damning testimony in the case involved Ken’s comments and actions as well as the fact that the video surveillance of the alleged sexual behavior disappeared. I believe someone testified that Ken told them to destroy the tape “so that it would not get out into the media.” In fact, this case was barely mentioned in the media and TMZ never reported on the huge monetary award the judge assigned to Bustillos. I believe today is the first time TMZ as acknowledge that the Vanderpumps lost the case.
Shortly after the verdict, Villa Blanca was quietly put on the market in a pocket listing. As far as I know, no buyers were found.
I’ll keep you updated on any further developments. I seriously doubt this case is going to go anywhere.
Fun act: Scheana Marie testified on behalf of Villa Blanca and denied any sort of hostile work environment. She was married on Vanderpump Rules with much pomp and circumstance the following season.
They’re all dirty.
Hopefully people will start seeing the real Lisa and Ken
Thanks for the update, TT. Will be interesting to see if anything happens with this. It seems like a really stupid move on the part of Lisa and Ken. Just more bad publicity. They should just own it, pay it, and move on.
“That must be a housewife disorder” is the funniest and truest part of the Vanderpump story!!
The Judge had to be really pissed off at Ken and Lisa and/or their attorney. That is a shit load of money to award for punitive damages. Just speculating that while Ken and Lisa might have a lot of money on paper, that most of it is tied up in assets they own. The fact that they placed Villa Blanca on the market after the ruling suggests they may not have the liquidity to pay that amount of money outright. It is difficult to sell a restaurant where I reside. It’s a huge investment for a buyer and if it needs a lot of work, needs to be gutted, or is just being purchased as a tear down to put up some other type of business, there are a limited number of people who fall in the category as qualified buyers. If this fails, I wouldn’t be surprised if they declared bankruptcy. Not a personal bankruptcy, but a bankruptcy on their businesses.
IF they go the bankruptcy route, they will have to do personal and business because the judge made it a point to hold them personally liable and set the judgment hirer than the assets in Villa Blanca.
Wow! The Judge definitely squeezed then in anticipation that VPumps might file bankruptcy. Ken and Lisa are between a rock and a hard place if this suit doesn’t pan out. I am of your opinion that this case will go nowhere. Proving malpractice against your attorney is very difficult to prove and around here in NJ, malpractice suits go before a panel of other attorneys who are not all that likely to favor the VPumps. They might foresee a necessity to sell their own personal home to pay punitive damages.
They should easily have 2 million at their disposal. If not, sell the house buy another super nice house for slightly less. They are just wasting more money going this route.
I have never heard of this. Kenn Todd? He was my belief in a true blue decent husband who never even thought of cheating. I wish I knew all that he did/said to the victim. I wonder if it was extreme flirting or suggestive comments or an all out proposition? I hope not. I hope he just played grabass one time too many. Ive always adored Lisa. Every DM she ever sent me on Twitter I had printed out and put into a little , pink lace scrapbook… shame on Ken. What a disappointment. Hes just another slimy worm like Mario Umansky. No wonder he defended Mario. Lisa did seem overly involved in Schaenas wedding. Shes a server afterall. Schaena sure played her cards right. She knows where her bread is butterred.
Lisa Pat… not sure how you got that Ken “cheated” out of this story. Lisa and Ken are the owners of the restaurant and therefore liable for a hostile work environment. You can click the link for the details of the case.
Lisa sent me a direct message on twitter after I was tagged in a post doing PR for one of her former venues. As a gay man, this clearly means we are BFFs and I can have no word said against her, my very best friend, Lisa Vanderpump.
*squee*
I wonder if I should tell her about the ticket I’ve booked to BH to stay in her guest house? Nah. She’ll like the surprise. Best friends forever love that shit.
**If I’m not mistaken** it was various employees like the cook staff that conducted the sexual harassment, and Ken was the primary in facilitating the destruction of evidence and not doing anything about her complaints; he wasn’t the actual harasser ie “cheating on lisa or playing grab ass” but rather was morally bankrupt in not doing anything to stop it and imo indirectly encouraging it.
I know I should probably go check before commenting but its nigh impossible on my phone.
I see. Thank you for clarifying, both of you. Ive had too much wine. Im relieved that Ken wasnt the harrasser atleast.
Lol yeah that would have made things so much worse – and probably not even the Andy/Vanderpump sway could have kept it out of the tabloids.
Ugh, a woman was sexually harrassed and they refused to handle it respectfully and appropriately. The least they could do now is just pay and learn something by implementing new policies and protecting their current and future employees.
In the link it says the $1.4 million was for attorney’s fees, not punitive damages…
Thanks MTP! Brain fart. I fixed it. It has been raining here for weeks. Dark as night most of the day. I swear it is aggravating my dementia or whatever the hell my problem is.
This doesn’t negate the seriousness of this case, but this woman, who was insulted and touched somewhere, received a bigger award than most rape victims.
Actually, I didn’t remember correctly. The $1.49 was in attorney fees. click back to the original stories and they explain things better.
Really good coverage, they must be so above it all they think rules don’t apply to them. Glad to hear a person doesn’t have to work in a hostile work place. I did years ago and EEO only cared if it was sexual harassment. Thanks T!
If I wasn’t so olds and still had a memory, I could add to this. I do recall there was another threatened law suit. It involved construction at Pump when it was being built. And Ken was the “offender” according to the construction man. That said– this will probably get deleted cuz it will be viewed as heresay. However, it is not hear say.
And Teresa Giudice is suing her bankruptcy lawyer for malpractice, as well. Is this a Bravo disease?
Teresa claims the feds were never have gone after her if her original bankruptcy attorney hadn’t messed up her suit.
I think the Bravo disease is called It’sNotMyFault-Itis and it seems to be contracted by being on reality t.v. The disease is incurable and no research is being done in the area of vaccinations or antivenom due to Bravo lobbyists. The symptoms of INMFI includes but are not limited to being complete assholes, to committing horrible, underhanded acts, lying about them, and blaming said acts and lies on anyone other than themselves. It seems all of the housewives and the some of the husbands/significant others have been exposed. Some with minimum exposure are in the early stage of the disease and others have progressed to the gossiping, lying and blaming others stage. In the last stage of the disease, the person’s actions escalate to the point of arrest. With no cure, incarceration is the final option or as I prefer to think of it as quarantining them for the public good. Some housewives seem to have a natural immunity to INMFI and either leave the show voluntarily or become friends of the housewives. Either way they instinctively know they should limit their exposure to infected individuals. The only chance of a miracle cure is if all viewers of the housewives franchises stop watching the shows putting them into cold turkey withdrawal.
…oh what a tangled web…