In the wake of the recent high profile assaults of hotel maids, hotels are handing out panic buttons to their employees in an effort to keep them safe from maniac members of the public. Now, The Pierre is taking it one step further, by training its maids in self-defense. But are they being lulled into a false sense of security? Let's examine, via the NY Post report on the self-defense class:

It's a tough(er) time to be a Manhattan hotel maid. First, DSK assaulted a maid; then that Egyptian banker assaulted a maid; by then everyone was so scared that hotels started handing out panic buttons to their workers.

Under house arrest and awaiting trial for the alleged sexual assault of a chambermaid, Dominique Strauss-Kahn is living in a three-story TriBeCa townhouse. Before Strauss-Kahn moved in, the townhouse was used as a venue for corporate parties. I went to one! (You didn't think I partied there with him, did you? Way too dangerous.)

Cleaning up after college kids is lucrative. A profile in The Daily Beast reveals that Kia Grasty, cheerful custodian of Penn frat houses, makes $140,000 by mopping beer from rich kids' floors.

Sometime nude housekeeper Thomas Cordero is on trial for the murder of paralegal John Conley. Cordero claims he killed Conley in self-defense; Conley, he says, attacked "because I have a nice ass." So hard to find good help these days.

Losing California gubernatorial candidate Meg Whitman will pay back wages to her former housekeeper. Guess she had some money left over.

Meg Whitman's "Latina household employee" is having a Gloria Allred-sponsored press conference today. What "explosive" allegations will she make about the eBay billionaire turned politician? Racism? Beat-downs? Slavery? Orgies? Something about her terrible sons? I can't wait!