Employees at the fancy Omphoy Ocean Resort in Palm Beach say they live in fear of being fired at the whim of owner Jeff Greene, a billionaire whom they say is running their work-place into the ground!
Greene, left, with rocker Rod Stewart at the recent Palm Beach Policemen's Ball (Click on the Mike Jachles photo for more)
In extensive interviews highlighted with cellphone photos (click here) and internal memos, the picture that current and ex-resort workers paint of Greene’s presence at the Palm Beach boutique resort he bought in foreclosure is far from being flattering.
They describe wild tirades stuffed with F-bombs that the 56-year-old Greene unloads on cleaning ladies, valets, kitchen staff and high-ranking managers, and spur-of-the-moment decisions changing the character of the four-diamond beach resort.
– Jeff Greene parties with rocker Rod Stewart, Donald Trump
And those who question his actions, as former Human Resources Manager Sunshine Cain did last month when two housekeepers came to her in tears after Greene’s wrath rained down on them, are often fired. Cain was spotted cleaning her desk a week ago and hasn’t been seen since.
Word of the dismissal comes on a week when famed Miami chef Michelle Bernstein, who runs the resort’s chi-chi restaurant, announced she’s severing her ties with the resort. The eatery’s Lindsay Autry, who’s currently starring on Bravo’s Top Chef, unexpectedly quit. And the spa, Exhale, is slated to shut down next month.
“Some staff members are simply terrified,” explained one former employee. Those who spoke with Gossip Extra fear retaliation and asked not to be named. “I’ve been at the receiving end of abuse. (Greene) cussed me out, told me I wasn’t a team player and to f…..g go work for a union. I’m working on a hostile work environment complaint.”
Calls for comment left for Greene at the resort, where he lives while his home is being remodelled, and with General Manager Henry Ball weren’t returned. Greene didn’t respond to an email asking for an interview.
Miami lawyer Stuart Grossman, however, responded on Greene’s behalf and accused “a former disgruntled employee” with a “vendetta” of spreading “fairy tales.”
“It was necessary to replace a few ineffective and unproductive employees . . . ,” Grossman’s email to Gossip Extra reads. “The hotel’s sales are up 30 percent over last year, and the hotel has never operated more efficiently.”
Four-diamond class? A blanket separates the entrance to Greene's suite from the rest of the hotel
On the laundry list of complaints against Greene:
– Since Greene, his wife, two children and two nannies moved into six suites in December, some spaces reserved for routine business and the guests’ comfort have been claimed by Greene. He reporteldy had a storage room emptied of its banquet equipment to build a playroom with a photo booth, juke box and movie theater. Greene also has contractors build a playground for the children in a small medidation garden outside the windows of the Zen-like spa.
What was once a zen-like meditation garden for spa users now is a private playground for Greene two children
– Greene has various resort employees, including valets and cleaning personnel, work at his house. HR head Cain was told to fire two women who returned from Greene’s house in tears after he allegedly called them “useless.” He reportedly didn’t like the perfume that one was wearing and told her she “smells like a whore.” Cain complained about Greene’s behavior to his wife, Mei, and got canned. She declined comment.
– Greene ordered to have department heads whose staff put in for overtime not approved by Greene pay for the OT out of their salaries
– Guests and health instructors have complained about yoga classes being disrupted by Greene’s children noisily running through the spa
– Greene, No. 200 on the Forbes 400 richest Americans and a former Democratic candidate for the U.S. Senate, slashed the resort’s health benefits
“Many employees are embarrassed with what’s going on,” one of the sources said. “Jeff Greene made a quick buck but that didn’t buy him class. He should recognize he can’t run a hotel and let the pros do it.”
For more:
– Rod Stewart, Jeff Greene star in Palm Beach Policemen’s Ball
– Top Chef star Lindsay Autry to Jeff Greene: Take this job and shove it!
– A former stewardess on Jeff Greene’s yacht tells all
Yea the guy wearing a four thousand dollar suit is going to hold the elevator for my employees who dont make that in four weeks?? COME ON!
youre
a punk n you dont get it!
This guy sounds like a real prick
She shouldn’t have worn that damned Coolwater that day.
Anyone who had Mike Tyson as his best man at his wedding…..well, that speaks volumes about him, doesn’t it? His behavior is on a par with Tyson’s in the ring….and his IQ probably a little under Mike’s, He knows ZERO about the hotel biz, and I’d be surprised if the hotel’s biz is running ahead of last year’s sales, although I did see they slashed the prices for rooms so low they are practically paying people to stay there—and during the busiest season they always have rooms available!! Last year the hotel was fully booked during the same time period!! I stayed there then and the staff was wonderful and the place ran like clock work.
Yea it’s funny that his lawyer commented they had to get rid of some Mananagers that were unproductive however all of them had been given promotions and pay increases. The sales numbers are beefed up to look as though they have stuff on the books but really don’t – it’s all a house of cards. Anyone who does a site there will see all the hideous statues and birds making the place look like a cheap museum will unlikely book meetings there. And I feel sorry for people who booked weddings because of Michelle Bernstein and now she’s gone. Every other hotel on the island is cranking right now and you walk into The Omphoy and sadly it’s dead and employee moral is down meaning people really aren’t gonna wanna come back. This guy Greene is toxic and people feel it – I heard one of the paying guests went on his kids trampoline and he yelled at them, the guest wanted to speak to the owner about how “rude” this person was not realizing he was talking to the owner. What a looser.
He moved Fat and ugly people further away from his table as well. What a hospitality!
So many inaccuracies in these reports . The Omphoy is a great hotel with a great staff. Disgruntled ex employees shouldn’t make trouble it makes YOU look bad and class-less NOT the owner. you don’t work there anymore. Move on and leave them alone.
OH Really Heather…..you make yourself look bad by never going to work…and don’t give me any advice I take advice from my attorney not from some idiot like you. Stay out of it – The truth shall set you free you big phony and I don’t care what you think anyway.
And by the way I’m not disgruntled I’m happy as hell to be away from the shit show called The Omphoy!!
i live across from the four seasons n go to the omphoy often. this is not a case of digruntaled employees this guy is trashing up the place! he is a jack ass, seen first hand. ritz n the four seasons have my buisness.
There are a lot of misrepresentation in this report and the blogs that follows it. The Omphoy continues to increase it numbers and improve the quality of the product. If employees are so unhappy why not just pack up and leave. In Florida everyone has at will employment and no one if forced to work in a place where they are so “mistreated”. Some position calls for a high level of professinalism and I guess that is why some people are no longer working here
YOU ARE FULL OF SHIT AND OBVIOULSY OUT OF TOUCH WITH REALITY!
I guess you are sitting at home unemployed so you are soooo in touch with reality!
@Be Professional– at will employment?! Last I checked Florida has one of the highest unemployment rates in the country so packing up and leaving isn’t exactly easy. What Mr. Greene fails to realize is that his hotel is new and hotels like the Four Seasons, Ritz, and Breakers don’t have to worry about gossip like this screwing up their business. I went there last Wednesday for dinner at Michelle Bernstein’s and the place was a ghost town, it’s high season and the place is dead meaning business is not as good as they make it out to seem.
M.A. I couldn’t have said it better myself…the place and present situation at The Omphoy unfortunately speak for themself. Who ever is commenting it’s untrue by a disgruntled employee is just trying to keep there job and do spin control. I believe everything in this report to be true because I’ve seen it first hand period. The number of comments out way there “damage control”
Some jobs actually require people to work and there are a number of people here who enjoy their jobs because they love to work. And business is good here despite what you sit around lazily thinking.
So pleased to respresent such a dedicated team of professionals who continue to provide outstanding customer service in a beautiful work place! Shame on those unfortunate misfits that are seeking employment elsewhere and continue to grumble from afar. Good ridance and please shut your trap. Amazing things happen in our five story resort without your dirty hands in the pot! New vision, committed team players and caring interested managers will move us beyond your perochial ways. So, please put an end to your whining!
BS …it will never change unless mr. Greene will sell the place. Leopard does not change his spots. How much Mr. G paid you to wrote this. Or threatened ?
OMG I said it before and I will say it again, Jeff Greene should be in prison for the FRAUD he has committed to get gain. He used his properties to borrow on them and gain equity while running them into slums and to the hands of the Los Angeles Housing Department. The man is lower than a snakes ass. A snake is a much kinder animal than this freak of nature. He runs everything he touches into the ground except his bank account.
What kind of a woman could marry this despicable man and yet even more horrifying bear his children.
I am sorry he has taken over what once was a glamorous classy hotel. Jeff Greene is anything but.
FORTUNATELY He couldn’t buy a political position.
I wait eagerly to hear of his demise.
Let’s move on!!!!!
Mr. Greene, and his corrupt group of sub-management, ought to be ashamed of themselves. It is obvious from all these articles that they have systematically harassed their current (or now former) staff members, and it shows in both the level of service, fearfulness and the complaints cited in the articles. People don’t write things like this unless it exists and those authors were improperly treated as part of the labor force. Mr. Greene, perhaps you should have stuck to finance….clearly hospitality, and appropriate people-management and treatment, is not your forte. I would much more likely be at the Breakers or the Four Seasons, or the Ritz, for the at matter, before I subjected myself to the horrific morale of your staff. If you think about it….your competitors hire ten times the total number of staff, and yet your hotel’s reputation is already AWFUL. That’s almost impressive within itself. Your personal attitude is directly reflected in your staff’s reactions; how sad that you have such little value for those that work for you. I can’t answer for anyone else, however I don’t enjoy being greeted by staff members that are fearful and unhappy. To me, the whole idea of that type of experience is a disgusting, autocratic example of poor management. I will be staying elsewhere, and will never recommend an establishment owned and run by people who are so incredibly inhumane. This is simply a shame, and you, sir, should be ashamed of bringing your high-dollar, low-brow mentality to Palm Beach.
Quite frankly, I don’t think any of the established residents are happy to have you there anyway, Mr. Greene. This is almost as good as your sad little run for Senate. When will you finally get it…? We just don’t want you here, no matter how much you made in derivatives….you just don’t fit in.
Mr. Green from Omphoy is taking away freedom of speech From his employees. He request all stuff to sign document what states that they can not give any negative information about him after they leave of get fired from company. Its sounds like dictator. Where are we? In China?
aahh i forgot…Mister Greene asked his restaurant mangers to move people to other table because he does not like to sit next to fat and ugly people. yes..he looks like Clark Gable