Famed Madonna Inn in SLO underpaid employees, failed to provide breaks, lawsuit claims

Former employees of the Madonna Inn are suing the iconic San Luis Obispo hotel, alleging that it violated California labor law.

The lawsuit, filed on June 1 in San Luis Obispo Superior Court, claims the Madonna Inn failed to properly pay at least three employees the entirety of their wages, provide breaks and maintain payroll records.

The former employees are demanding to be paid their owed wages, plus any civil penalties applicable under the law.

“We have no comment in regards to this lawsuit,” Madonna Inn marketing manager Amanda Rich told The Tribune in an email Monday morning.

Former employees sue SLO hotel over labor practices

Former employees Erica Medhurst, Joseph Singer and Aria Thompson, who filed the lawsuit, claim that the Madonna Inn violated various sections of the California Labor Code, which guarantees employees the right to fair wages and working conditions.

Additionally, the lawsuit alleges that the inn violated the Industrial Welfare Commission’s wage orders. The commission was established to regulate wages, hours and working conditions in California.

Medhurst, Singer and Thompson all worked as hourly-paid servers for Madonna Inn.

The three claim that, although they worked more than eight hours in a day and more than 40 hours weekly, the Madonna Inn failed to pay them minimum and overtime wages.

The inn also did not provide their due wages in a timely manner after they were terminated, the employees claim in the lawsuit.

The former employees claim that management at the inn used time rounding practices that were “not neutral” and resulted in further underpayment, according to the lawsuit.

This resulted inaccurate wage statements and payroll records, the lawsuit alleges.

Lawsuit: Madonna Inn underpaid workers, didn’t provide breaks

Medhurst, Singer and Thompson allege that the inn did not provide them with appropriate meal breaks or rest periods in accordance with California law.

Despite rest periods being missed, shortened, taken late or interrupted, the former employees claim they were not reimbursed at their regular rate of pay.

The California Labor Code requires employers to provide a 10-minute rest break per four hours worked and 30-minute meal break per five hours worked.

The former employees also were not reimbursed for business-related expenses, according to the lawsuit.

The Madonna Inn is expected to respond to the lawsuit by the end of the month.