Pierre hotel suspends supervisor who told maid to wait on report of alleged Egyptian banker groping

Pierre hotel suspends supervisor who told maid to wait on report of alleged Egyptian banker groping: "The Pierre hotel has suspended a supervisor who told a maid to wait a day to tell security she was groped by an Egyptian businessman, labor officials said Tuesday.

Mahmoud Abdel-Salam Omar, 74, is accused of locking the 44-year-old worker inside his $900-a-night room Sunday night and pawing at her body."

The maid escaped and immediately reported the incident to a supervisor, but she was instructed to wait until Monday to speak with security.

"It's an absolute outrage," said Peter Ward, president of the Hotel and Motel Trades Council.

READ MORE ABOUT THE ALLEGED ATTACK

"You don't take a person who has just been assaulted and send them home. You help them.

"This customer continued to roam around the hotel, continued to have access to the bar, continued to have access to room service after he assaulted somebody simply because some manager tried to sweep it under the rug."

A spokeswoman for The Pierre, a posh hotel near Fifth Ave., did not return a call for comment.

The supervisor's suspension came as Omar, the former head of the Bank of Alexandria, awaited arraignment on charges of sexual abuse, unlawful imprisonment, forcible touching and harrassment.

Omar was busted two weeks after Dominique Strauss Kahn, the disgraced ex-chief of the International Monetary Fund, was charged with sexually assaulting a maid at the Sofitel hotel.

Sources said Omar attacked the maid about 6 p.m., after he called housekeeping with a request for tissues.

When the unidentified maid arrived at his 10th floor room, Omar answered the door in his pajamas and asked her to put the tissues on a table, sources said.

He then locked the door and set upon her, grabbing her breasts and "grinding against her," sources said.

Omar asked the maid for her number, and she gave him a fake one and fled the room, sources said.

In a statement Monday night, hotel management said, "We take all complaints very seriously and investigate thoroughly.

"This incident has been formally reported to the New York Police Department and is under investigation. We will fully comply with the investigation as requested."

It's not clear if Omar - the chairman of the Egyptian salt giant, El-Mex Salines Co. - has a lawyer.

rschapiro@nydailynews.com

Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/news/ny_crime/2011/05/31/2011-05-31_pierre_hotel_suspends_supervisor_who_told_maid_to_wait_on_report_of_alleged_egyp.html#ixzz1NxK95ycR