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Workers at three Hawaii hotels owned and operated by Diamond Resorts filed a class-action lawsuit Tuesday alleging wage theft.
The suit, which was brought forward by Honolulu attorney James Bickerton, covers roughly 325 past and current employees of The Modern Honolulu, Kaanapali Beach Club and The Point at Poipu. According to the suit, on multiple occasions on and after April 15, 2018, Diamond Resorts “failed to timely play plaintiffs and members of the putative class all of their earned wages, including earned overtime wages.”
The suit, which was filed in First Circuit Court, seeks wage reimbursement along with double damages and interest.
Las-Vegas based Diamond Resorts said Wednesday, “We experienced an unfortunate payment processing error and have already reimbursed every impacted team member in full.”
But Unite Here Local 5, the labor union that represents Modern and Kaanapali Beach hotel workers, said the class-action suit comes on the heels of three federal court actions. The collective bargaining agreement between Local 5 and Kaanapali Beach expired Tuesday, while the Modern agreement expired last December.
On May 3, Local 5 filed two charges against Diamond with the National Labor Relations Board claiming that the company had not bargained in good faith before announcing its intention to lay off 78 Modern workers. On May 21, the union filed a third NLRB charge alleging that the company had not provided sufficient information to investigate and process a Modern employee’s grievance.
In a letter to Modern workers sent this past spring, management had said positions would be eliminated “as we convert the hotel into a vacation ownership resort.”
Local 5 spokeswoman Paola Rodelas said Modern leadership rescinded the layoffs and the union withdrew the two federal charges related to bargaining on the condition that a good faith effort would be made.
However, Rodelas said Diamond Resorts notified the union Tuesday, as the class action suit was being filed, that it would lay off the entire banquets department at The Modern Honolulu, totaling 28 workers, effective Aug. 15. Rodelas said the company also said that it would refuse further meetings with the union and workers.
“First, Diamond Resorts failed to pay us on time, which is why we filed this lawsuit. Then they respond by laying off my entire department. This is unacceptable and a huge injustice, not only for myself and my coworkers but our whole community,” said Dominique Spurling, a named plaintiff in the class action suit, who has worked as a Modern banquet captain for six years.
ON THE MOVE
Hilton Hawaiian Village Waikiki Beach Resort has announced that Jerry Dolak is the resort’s new director of safety and security. His responsibilities include administering and directing the implementation of all security and safety programs to ensure the safety of guests and team members. Dolak was previously the corporate director of loss prevention at Outrigger Resorts, where he worked for more than 30 years.
District 49 Hawaii Toastmasters, a nonprofit educational organization that empowers individuals to become more effective in leadership and communication, immediate past district director Kenn Nishihira has recently awarded Gloria Shishido as the “2018-2019 District Director Outstanding Toastmaster of the Year.” She is a distinguished Toastmaster, past international director, past district governor as well as a District 49 Pathways guide. Besides being a Toastmaster for more than 20 years, Shishido retired from The Queen’s Medical Center after 38 years in clinical laboratory and human resource management as well as having served as a project coordinator at the Hawaii State Center for Nursing.
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