LOS ANGELES - Tehmina Adaya, owner of the Hotel Shangri-La in the beach town of Santa Monica, Calif., announced on Friday some measures meant to repair her standing among Jews in the wake of a jury decision last week that found she had violated the civil rights of members of a Jewish group she tried to evict from her hotel in 2010.
Ms. Adaya said she was donating $3,600 each to the Koby Mandell Foundation, which aids families of terror victims in remembrance of 13-year-old Israeli who was killed by terrorists, and to the Zahal Disabled Veterans Organization, which assists disabled Israeli veterans.
She also extended an invitation to “leaders of the Jewish and pro-Israel community†to attend a private event to be hosted by the Shangri-La in cooperation with the Zionist Organization of America within the next 12 months.
In a statement, Ms. Adaya said she condemned anti-Semitism, welcomed diversity and never ma de disparaging remarks about those who attended the 2010 event, which was sponsored by the Friends of the Israeli Defense Forces.
Allegations that she had spoken offensively, she said, were based on “false information from a disgruntled former employee.â€
Jurors in the Santa Monica division of the Los Angeles County Superior Court ordered that Ms. Adaya and the hotel pay more than $1.6 million in compensatory and punitive damages. (The awards were made in varying amounts to a group of plaintiffs that included 18 individuals and an events company, Platinum Events, which had worked with the hotel to set up the event.)
In her statement on Friday, Ms. Adaya said she planned to appeal the jury decision.
Michael Cieply covers the film industry from the Los Angeles bureau.
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