Oakland city attorney threatens lawsuit against hotel over alleged $400K wage theft
Oakland officials are close to suing the owners of the Radisson Hotel Oakland Airport for more than $400,000 in an alleged wage theft case.
In a letter dated June 4, City Attorney Barbara Parker said if the hotel owners, Oakland Alameda Hotels LLC, don't pay the 128 employees in question and send her office copies of the cancelled checks by June 18, she will sue to ensure payment.
"The City also may consider your record of non-compliance in making City decisions on contracts and land use approvals, and may seek revocation, suspension, or denial of any registration certificates, permits, or licenses until the violations are remedied, to the maximum extent permitted by law," Parker wrote.
The issue stems from the period between July 2019 and April 2020 when the hotel allegedly failed to pay the correct minimum wage rates as mandated by Oakland's Measure Z, which requires hotels to pay workers $15 per hour with health benefits or $20 per hour without health benefits.
In October and December of 2023, the city sent two letters to hotel management asking them to pay up or file an appeal but has yet to receive a response, according to Parker's latest missive.
A hotel representative didn't immediately respond to a request for comment.