New York, NY: Loews Hotel Hollywood LLC is facing an unpaid overtime class action lawsuit filed by employees who allege the hotel failed to compensate them for breaks and overtime and failed to factor in service charges in their compensation.
The lawsuit seeks to represent four overlapping classes, each comprising at least 50 current and former hotel employees who were allegedly cheated by practices such as the exclusion of service charges from the calculation for overtime and missed-break pay, according to a complaint.
"The members of the classes are identifiable, similarly situated persons who were hourly nonexempt employees of defendants who earned and were paid portions of 'service charges' that were not factored into their 'regular rate' for purposes of overtime compensation, not provided accurate wage statements, and/or not paid all wages upon termination,"Lead plaintiff Jessica Ferra said.
In the lawsuit, Ferra who worked as a bartender at the Lowes Hotel in Los Angeles, states that she while and her co-workers typically were paid at the California minimum wage as base compensation, they also earned mandatory service charges that could make up the majority of their pay for certain shifts.
According to the lawsuit, hotel employees would work through legally mandated meal and/ or rest breaks, for which they were required to be compensated under California labor law for an hour of regular compensation. Ferra asserts that the hotel failed to meet this obligation, sometimes paying no wage penalty at all and sometimes paying only an hour's worth of base salary with service charges factored out.
Similarly, the hotel calculated employees' overtime wages based on their base salary instead of their real hourly compensation, the lawsuit alleges. Ferra claims that employees received wage statements reflecting improper pay rates, and that employees who were terminated were not compensated for all the overtime pay they should have received during their employment with the hotel.
Ferra is seeking damages for the hotel's alleged wage-and-hour violations, plus prejudgment interest and attorneys' fees. She is represesnted by Ari E. Moss, of the Law Offices of Ari Moss and Sahag Majarian II of the Law Offices of Sahag Majarian II.
The case is Ferra v. Loews Hollywood Hotel LLC et al., case number BC 586716, in the Superior Court of the State of California for the County of Los Angeles.
