Home

Workers sue 10 hotels, allege wage violations

January 9, 2012

Keywords

Arts & Entertainment, etc., Hotels, Law, Legal Issues, Tourism & Hospitality

Attorneys for workers at downtown Indianapolis hotels filed a federal lawsuit on Monday alleging wage and hour violations.

The suit targets 10 major hotels along with Hospitality Staffing Solutions, a subcontractor that employs many hotel workers, according to a prepared statement from the plaintiffs.

The suit, filed on behalf of 14 individual plaintiffs, alleges the hotels and HSS regularly failed to pay employees for all the hours they worked and forced them to work off the clock without breaks.

Attorneys hope to have the suit certified as a class action. They say hotel workers could be entitled to as much as $10 million in back pay.

The case appears to be timed to capitalize on the national spotlight on Indianapolis because of next month’s Super Bowl. The statement says hotels will make millions of dollars because of the event but that workers earn as little as $7.25 an hour and receive few benefits.

A phone call seeking comment from HSS was not immediately returned.

The suit makes the allegations against the JW Marriott, Indianapolis Marriott Downtown, the Canterbury Hotel, the Conrad Indianapolis, Embassy Suites Downtown, Holiday Inn Select Indianapolis Airport, Hyatt Regency Indianapolis, Hyatt Place Indianapolis Airport, the Omni Severin and the Westin Hotel.

IBJ Conversations
5 Comments
Add Comment

Will Never Make It to Trial

TerryJanuary 10, 2012 12:36 AM
This tactic will die a slow death. All this is about is the Union trying to make a big splash leading up to the Super Bowl. At the end of the day, these folks will fail, the union will leave them holding the ball, and they will be out of work, marked and labeled as "Trouble Makers - Do Not Hire".

Reply to Comment Flag Comment
Right to work state

BillJanuary 9, 2012 11:12 AM
This is the very reason why these people need to be repsented by someone who will back them up against this kinda of tactics, I know they broke the federal law but without being repsented by someone most of the time there afraid to come foward, this is the very reason we dont need to become a right to work state, our state has always been solvent an leads the midwest as one of the leaders in jobs, why change when its working.

Reply to Comment Flag Comment
Extortion

Rand FanJanuary 9, 2012 10:46 AM
This action is an example of union tactics. If these people aren't on the job during the SB week, they will lose a ton of money from loss of tips. However, the union leaders don't want to tell the employees that; they only want to exercise their power for legislative reasons - for example: the proposed right to work - drop that and the union will drop the potential of a work stoppage by the hotel employees. This is how union leaders operate. They can't function on economic reality because the reality doesn't fit their ideology. This is the same as Obama's goals. It doesn't matter that economic reality doesn't fit his ideology, the ideology is the only thing that matters.

Reply to Comment Flag Comment
JERRY

DavidJanuary 9, 2012 9:53 AM
Why are you attacking the right to work law? This has nothing to do with that. These companies are violating FEDERAL LAW! A company wanting employees to under report their hours or under paying them is a matter of federal law and not state law! Why do i feel like this is an indication of our public school system than anything. haha

Reply to Comment Flag Comment
workers sue hotels

jerryJanuary 9, 2012 7:26 AM
By the Time this come's to trial.
Mitch Daniels will already have a right to work bill past and this is exactly what we was saying either you do it on their time or work for less no and by the way sorry u have to work sunday to

Reply to Comment Flag Comment