Court Of Appeals Affirms Hadsell Stormer & Renick Trial Victory On Behalf Of Hourly Restaurant Workers

The California Court of Appeal affirmed a 2017 trial verdict in favor of over 200 Restaurant workers against their employer Daily Grill Restaurant at the Westin LAX Hotel. The workers proved that Daily Grill violated the City of Los Angeles Airport Hotel Living Wage Ordinance by willfully refusing to pay its workers the required living wage from 2010 to 2014. In addition, the court found that those employees who had quit or were terminated were entitled to waiting time penalties equal to 30 days of wages. The Court of Appeal emphasized that an employer has a duty to investigate the proper rate owed to employees and that when an employer intentionally fails or refuses to pay employees who are discharged or quit all wages owed, waiting time penalties are mandatory and cannot be reduced by a trial court.