Facts

Esteban Hernandez, Kendra Sloan and Sabrina Brimhall filed suit against Hanjin InterContinental Corp., IHG Management (Maryland) LLC, and others, for various alleged wage and hour violations at IHG branded hotels in California. IHG Management (Maryland) LLC operates these hotels under the brands InterContinental, Hotel Indigo, and Staybridge Suites. Hanjin International owns the InterContinental Downtown Los Angeles Hotel. Sloan had filed a PAGA claim against IHG Management (Maryland) in Los Angeles Superior Court on October 5, 2018 and Brimhall had filed one against Hanjin International on January 28, 2019, also in Los Angeles Superior Court. Hernandez filed his class and PAGA claim against Hanjin InterContinental and the other defendants on May 29, 2019. The three cases were consolidated following private mediation and reaching a global class and representative settlement, and the parties to the Sloan and Brimhall actions agreed to dismiss their cases after final approval of the settlement. The settlement will cover a class of approximately 4,280 current and former nonexempt employees of defendants.

PLAINTIFFS' CONTENTIONS: Plaintiffs contended that defendants failed to, among others: provide legally-compliant meal periods; provide legally-compliant rest breaks; pay hourly wages, minimum wages, or overtime wages for certain alleged work; provide accurate written wage statements or other payroll and timekeeping records; timely pay all wages allegedly due; timely pay all final wages allegedly due; properly pay split shifts and; reimburse alleged business expenses. They also alleged related claims asserted through PAGA and failure to provide suitable seating in violation of Labor Code Section 1198.

DEFENDANTS' CONTENTIONS: Defendants denied all contentions and denied the claims were appropriate for class or representative treatment. Defendant denied all liability and specifically denied that they violated any applicable law. Defendant agreed to settle the matter to avoid the burden, expense, and risk of continued litigation.

Settlement Discussions

Jeffrey Ross, experienced in wage and hour class and representative actions, acted as mediator.

Result

The unopposed motion for preliminary approval of the class action and PAGA settlement was granted for $3.3 million. The final approval hearing is set for September 28, 2022.

Other Information

Consolidated with: 19STCV19784 and BC725262.

Length

The parties participated in two back-to-back days of private mediations on May 6 and May 7 in 2020.