SANTA MONICA (CNS) - West Hollywood's SoHo House, a hot spot for celebrities, is being sued by a Latino former employee who alleges he was subjected to racial discrimination when denied promotions, then fired in March when he complained.
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Eduardo Rodriguez's Santa Monica Superior Court lawsuit alleges wrongful termination, retaliation and failure to prevent discrimination, harassment and retaliation. He seeks unspecified compensatory and punitive damages.
A representative for the Sunset Boulevard eatery, frequented by such well-knowns as Justin Timberlake and Jessica Biel, Leonardo DiCaprio and Sylvester Stallone -- and occasionally Oprah Winfrey -- did not immediately reply to a request for comment on the suit brought Sept. 15.
Rodriguez was hired in March 2018 as a back server at the Malibu location and was later transferred to the West Hollywood location the next year, according to his suit, which further states that his responsibilities included tidying bar areas, collecting empty dishware and keeping bar materials stocked.
Rodriguez sought promotions in May 2022, including to the position of server, but management told him he needed to first work as a food runner or back server, positions he had already held, the suit states.
However, during this same time, management elevated and hired non- Latino employees to be servers without the purported prerequisites of having been food runners or back servers, according to the suit, which further alleges that other Latino and non-white employees also were being denied promotions to server.
Rodriguez further alleges that the restaurant's general manager made derogatory comments regarding Latinos, including "Mexicans are too problematic," and that same person covered up for non-Latino workers who made mistakes, according to the suit.
Rodriguez met with a manager in January to express his concerns about alleged discrimination, noting that all the immigrant employees were assigned to the back of the kitchen and that SoHo House's new hires were almost never Latino, the suit states.
However, the manager did nothing to "meaningfully address plaintiff's concerns or complaint of discrimination at SoHo House," according to the suit.
That same month, Rodriguez again sought a promotion to server, but his application was rejected in February, leaving him believing that SoHo House did not want to promote non-whites to "client-facing" positions, the suit states.
Rodriguez applied yet again in March for a server job, but a week later he was falsely accused of drinking restaurant coffee and criticized for dropped a glass that shattered, something that happens often in restaurants, according to the suit, which further states that both were cited as grounds for firing him on March 20.
Rodriguez maintains he actually lost his job because of his race and in retaliation for his discrimination complaints, the suit states. The plaintiff has suffered lost earnings and emotional distress because of his firing, according to the complaint.
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