A former bartender at Kimpton Hotel has filed a representative action lawsuit against the hotel chain under California's Private Attorney General Act (PAGA). The lawsuit alleges that the company has shortchanged worker pay and committed other alleged violations of California labor law.
According to the complaint, Kimpton operates at least 10 branded hotels in California. The suit was filed in San Francisco County Superior Court.
The lawsuit was filed by named plaintiff Waverly Latourette, who allegedly worked for Kimpton as a bartender in Santa Barbara from March 2022 to January 2023. Plaintiffs are represented by attorneys Jamie K. Serb, Brandon Brouillette, and Zachary M. Crosner from Crosner Legal PC. The defendants in the case are Kimpton Hotel & Restaurant Group LLC and KHRG Canary LLC.
The lawsuit seeks to recover civil penalties for alleged violations of California labor law. Under the PAGA law, individual employees are allowed to sue employers on behalf of their coworkers, essentially in place of state officials. The PAGA law allows plaintiffs to seek civil penalties and attorney fees. Under the law, 75% of those civil penalties would go to the state, leaving 25% to be split among workers. Plaintiff attorneys earn fees on top of any penalties paid.
The PAGA law has drawn calls for reform from critics, who assert the law has served to generate thousands of lawsuits against employers and windfall fees for attorneys who bring the actions against employers, as well as civil penalties paid to the state, but much fewer real benefits for workers.