In Wake of COVID Outbreaks at Luxury Boutique Mr. C Hotel Beverly Hills, UNITE HERE Local 11 Files Complaint with LA County Health Department

The union for hotel workers has filed a complaint with the Los Angeles Department of Public Health (DPH) asking the agency to investigate after Mr. C recently disclosed eleven cases of COVID-19 among its employees in recent months. These include a nine-day period beginning in late October 2020 when four workers reported testing positive, a three-day period in December with three reported cases, and another seven-day period in December with four reported cases.

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“As a monolingual spanish speaker I want to make sure that when I am called back to work at Mr. C’s we have adequate COVID-19 training in a language we can understand, the safety of our families, guests and communities depend on it,” said Raquel Lezama, mini bar attendant at Mr C Beverly Hills for 8 years.

DPH requires that COVID-19 case clusters be reported in order to trigger the agency’s “outbreak response” program. The DPH reports on a website the names of businesses with three or more laboratory confirmed COVID cases during any 14-day period. However, the agency has not reported the outbreaks at Mr. C.

“It is disgusting that a company like Mr. C Beverly Hill has had so many outbreaks in recent months. Workers have raised serious health and safety concerns that must be addressed,” said UNITE HERE Local 11 Co-President Kurt Petersen.

Responding to worker concerns, the complaint asks the DPH to investigate whether the hotel has complied with DPH requirements to report COVID-19 outbreaks, ensure that room attendants only clean rooms when guests are absent, enforce a requirement that guests wear face coverings, and provide proper training to employees on COVID-19 policies and procedures. The hotel has reportedly failed to provide adequate training to housekeeping employees, many of whom are monolingual Spanish speakers, in a language they read and speak.

Mr. C’s housekeeping workers voted to unionize with Local 11 in an NLRB-sponsored election held in November 2019. After being formally as certified workers’ representative in July 2020, the union promptly sought to initiate collective bargaining, but has alleged that Mr. C management failed to come to the table to negotiate in good faith on a first union contract, wasting months when an agreement could have been reached. Along with fair wages and affordable health insurance, workers are seeking enforceable COVID-19 safety protocols.

“I was one of the workers that caught COVID-19 and I don’t wish this on anyone. I want the hotel to make sure that guests always wear face masks,” Ricky Jagabat, Housekeeping Houseman for 9 years at Mr. C Beverly Hills.

UNITE HERE Local 11 is the union of more than 32,000 workers in hotels, restaurants, airports, sports arenas and convention centers in Southern California and Arizona.

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