Anaheim Marriott executives have agreed to pay employees laid off during the COVID-19 pandemic, who they allegedly failed to rehire when the hotel reopened, nearly $3 million as part of a settlement to avoid a $12.5 million fine from the state labor commissioner.
Announcement of the $2.75 million settlement comes nearly two years after an investigation by the California Labor Commissioner’s office found Marriott executives violated the state’s COVID era worker recall law and slapped the hotel with over $12 million in fines for allegedly violating a state labor law.
The Right to Recall became law in 2021 and requires hospitality and service industry employers like hotels to offer workers hit with pandemic lay offs the chance to get their jobs back based on seniority before hiring new employees. The law is slated to expire at the start of next year.
Roberto Medina, a maintenance engineer from Anaheim who worked at the hotel for about 10 years, said being laid off from his job during the pandemic left him in economic hardship as a bread winner in the family.
“When the pandemic hit, I was laid off without warning and without being given a reason why. I waited for a call back to resume work once the pandemic ends but I did not get a call back,” Medina said at a Tuesday press conference in Spanish…