Hyatt Regency Long Beach fined $4.7M for violating COVID-19 law

The Hyatt Regency Long Beach has been fined $4.79 million for failing to rehire 25 employees laid off during the COVID-19 pandemic once the hotel increased its business operations and began bringing workers back, as required by law, officials announced Tuesday.

The employees covered by the Right to Recall law included restaurant servers, event servers, bartenders, housepersons, turndown attendants, cashiers, and stewards, according to the state Labor Commissioner's Office.

"Some of these employees had as much as 24 years of experience, and were suddenly out of work due to a public health emergency," Labor Commissioner Lilia Garcia-Brower said in a statement. "The employer failed to offer them their old jobs back in compliance with the law."

The LCO said it launched its investigation in September 2022 after receiving complaints from numerous workers of the hotel. The investigation included issuing subpoenas, interviewing workers, and conducting depositions of HR managers.

LCO issued a citation against Hyatt Regency Long Beach for 8,983 aggregate days of violations under the law. The law allows liquidated damages of $500 per worker for each day the employee's recall rights are violated. The $4.79 million citation will be paid to the 25 affected employees.

The Right to Recall law requires employers in the hospitality and building services industries to offer available job openings that are the same or similar to jobs held by workers laid off during the pandemic, based on company seniority. The law went into effect on April 16, 2021 and has been extended to Dec. 31, 2025.