The Terranea resort, which sits on the Pacific coastline about 100 miles away from San Diego, is facing allegations from its workers that it has violated applicable wage and hours laws, including California’s provisions about mandatory breaks which previous posts on this blog have discussed.
The impending litigation is a class action lawsuit, meaning that several Terranea employees have banded together in their efforts to seek justice in court against their employer. They accuse their employer of underpaying them in several respects.
The biggest issue seems to be the fact that, on certain days, employees are not allowed to use the company lots close to the resort but have to park away from their workplace. They then have to take a shuttle bus the rest of the distance. According to the employees, the company does this to make room for clients during special events. The workers feel like this is a job requirement and thus, the extra hour or so they spend commuting to work should be compensated as work time.
However, employees also have accused the resort of creating an environment in which they are not allowed to take the rest breaks and mealtimes required under California law. Employees have reported not being allowed to take a break because they are so busy, and others have even been approached about changing their time cards in order to show a break that they did not take.
This case illustrates that, even in what on the surface seems like a well-run, put-together establishment, workers can be getting abused behind the scenes. All California workers, whether they are part of San Diego’s hospitality and tourism business or otherwise, should be aware that they do have rights and can seek compensation if those rights are violated.
Source: Eater Los Angeles, “Terranea workers allege wage theft violations in class action lawsuit,” Crystal Coser, Oct. 19, 2017