LOS ANGELES (CNS) - A local labor union has formally requested the Los Angeles City Attorney's Office to investigate the operators of Hotel Figueroa for alleged violations of a city law by failing to retain veteran workers after mass layoffs.
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The hospitality workers' union, Unite Here Local 11, said that the Hotel Figueroa's owner, BGO, and its principal operator, Highgate, laid off staff on Feb. 11 -- bringing in a new company, The Botanical Group, to run the food and beverage operations.
However, the union allege the owners violated the city's Hotel Worker Retention Ordinance when The Botanical Group employed a new set of workers, failing to retain the hotel's "longstanding" restaurant and bar workers, who now face unemployment.
"It is beyond outrageous to see wealthy companies like BGO treat their longstanding workers like they are disposable," Kurt Petersen, co-president of Unite Here Local 11 said in a statement. "We hope the City Attorney will act urgently to address a crisis that will not only impact the victimized workers but also the community at large, which must now step up to ensure the workers do not become unhoused."
The L.A. City Attorney's Office did not immediately respond to a request for comment, nor confirm whether staff moved forward with an investigation.
The Hotel Worker Retention Ordinance was enacted to address the problem of mass layoffs of hotel workers that have occurred historically when corporate ownership or management of a hotel changes.
The ordinance requires that new owners or operators retain the site's employees for a transitional period, ensuring employment stabilization for community members and alleviating the demands for social services for newly unemployed workers.
Highgate did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Located at the corner of Figueroa Street and Olympic Boulevard, the Hotel Figueroa is a 14-floor building with two restaurants -- Sparrow Italia and Café Fig -- and several other food and beverage outlets.
In 2023, the Los Angeles Times reported the hotel's former food and beverage operator, Noble 33, announced it would lay off its employees and terminate its operations after workers began an effort to unionize.
The company followed through on this announcement, and laid off all of its more than 100 non-management employees.
"The owners thought they could just replace us overnight and that we would give up and walk away. My coworkers and I will not do that. We have rights," Maria Ibarra, a cook at Hotel Figueroa, said in a statement.
Gabriela Vidrio, a housekeeper at the hotel, supported her fellow coworkers -- the cooks and dishwashers who have been there for years prior.
"We will not let the company treat them like second-class citizens and throw them out like trash," Vidrio said in a statement. "They deserve to have their rights respected. We have their backs."
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