California Labor Law Class Action Filed Against Ritz-Carlton

A California labor law class action lawsuit was filed against the Ritz-Carlton Hotel and Marriott International after accusations that the large hotel chain had violated many California wage and hour laws. Hourly workers were allegedly not adequately paid for overtime nor were they given proper meal and other breaks.

Named plaintiffs Lavina S. and Elvia P. claimed that seven Ritz-Carlton Hotels, owned by Marriott, did not properly pay their nonexempt employees for their work. The California labor law class action lawsuit claims that “class members were not paid for all hours worked because all hours worked were not recorded … [and] defendants knew or should have known that plaintiff and class members were entitled to receive certain wages for overtime compensation and that they were not receiving certain wages for overtime compensation.”

The class action lawsuit states that the hotel chain violated a number of California labor laws involving rest period, meal time, overtime, and other violations. Proposed Class Members include an unknown number of “persons who are or were employed by Defendants in California in a non-exempt, hourly-paid position at any time from February 7, 2011 until the date of certification,” reads the California labor law class action lawsuit. A subclass was also proposed that would consist of individuals who were/are employed at the Ritz-Carlton within a year of Class certification.

Specific California Labor Law Violations

Seven California wage and hour laws were allegedly violated. The first violation claimed that employees were not paid overtime for working over eight hours a day or 40 hours a workweek. California labor laws state that any overtime must be paid one-and-a-half times the normal hourly rate. Furthermore, employees who worked six or seven days in a row were allegedly not paid overtime.

The second allegation was that the hotel often required employees to work throughout their meal period. CA labor laws, however, protect meal times and say that an employee cannot work more than five hours without an uninterrupted minimum of 30 minutes of meal time.

Other allegations include that employees were required to work through rest periods (also mandated by law), that employees were not given “accurate itemized wage statements in writing” (said the California labor law class action lawsuit), that the defendants failed to pay discharged employees in the appropriate amount of time, and other allegations.

The Ritz-Carlton is one of many California companies under investigation for violating California wage and hour laws.

This California Labor Law Class Action Lawsuit is Lavina S. and Elvia P. v. The Ritz Carlton, et al., Case No: BC573996, in the Superior Court of the State of California for the Country of Los Angeles, Central District.

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