Staffers sue Ritz hotel in Pasadena

[Omaha Steve]

http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-ritz31aug31,1,7300919.story?ctrack=1&cset=true

Staffers sue Ritz hotel in Pasadena

Workers say they aren't paid for overtime and are denied breaks.
By Kimi Yoshino, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer
August 31, 2007

Two employees at the Ritz-Carlton, Huntington Hotel & Spa in Pasadena filed a lawsuit Thursday against the luxury resort, alleging that they are not paid overtime and are forced to work through their breaks.

The lawsuit, which seeks class-action status, is the latest salvo in a dispute between workers and management at the hotel, which is the focus of a union organizing campaign. The hotel is owned by the Los Angeles County Employees Retirement Assn., which manages the $38-billion pension fund of retired police officers, firefighters and other county workers -- many of them union members.

In addition to the lawsuit, workers have recently filed complaints with the state Department of Fair Employment and Housing and the National Labor Relations Board.

"They treat us like slaves," said housekeeper Elvia Alonso, 44, who has worked at the hotel for six years and is one of the plaintiffs in the lawsuit. "They say, 'If you don't like it, you go home.' "

Allison Sitch, a spokeswoman for Ritz-Carlton Hotel Co., declined to comment on the litigation and the specific complaints but said, "Genuinely, we take all of these things seriously." Hotel operator Ritz-Carlton is a unit of Marriott International of Bethesda, Md.

In interviews, eight current and former employees of the hotel representing different departments complained about racial discrimination, hour and wage violations, staffing problems, unsafe work conditions and retaliation for engaging in union activities.


FULL story at link.