Judge Orders Woodfin to Pay $200,000 in Back Wages
An Alameda County judge has ordered Woodfin Suites Hotel in Emeryville to pay $200,000 in back wages as part of a protracted legal battle over the city’s living-wage ordinance.
On Monday, Superior Court Judge Steven Brick, upholding decisions made by the Emeryville City Council, ruled that the hotel owed the money to current and former workers for shifts they worked in 2006. Dozens of workers at the hotel have complained that management violated a voter-approved measure intended to improve working conditions.
This is such lovely news, right before the holidays. Congratulations, Woodfin workers…the Grinch hasn't stolen Christmas, after all!
Anybody want to bet Woodfin will yet again appeal? They've already spent way more on lawyers fighting this than they owe their workers.
This is a sleaze company we have in our town.
Next step..we show 'em the door. This is NOT the kind of business we want in our town.
To Dec 18 7:07 pm.
Do YOU now decide what kind of business WE want in OUR town? I did not in any way support the Woodfin,and actually worked against their stand on this issue. But in no WAY did I relinquish the right for you to decide, as you seem to assume, what business remains in MY town!
GET A LIFE!
Re: Dec 20, 9:11pm
An ominous time/date.
What is really the position of the citizens of Emeryville?
Let's really hear from the population of Emeryville and not just a few possible malcontents.
A malcontent in Emeryville:
Someone who believes we should not have law breaking businesses behaving in an unethical manner in our town.
It looks like some citizens, contented with the status quo, have no problem with an out-of-town, corrupt, Bush Pioneer, republican, christian evangelical not paying his workers for labor performed as the law dictates. It's all good if your down with the team. I'm not quite sure though what you do with companies that DO obey the law with this contented guiding principal. It seems kinda unfair to the ethical businesses in town, the ones that aren't law breakers, but I guess fairness is not part of the equation.
Signed,
A Malcontent
I don't know if I'm a 'malcontent' or not, that's for others to decide. I DO think that since Woodfin lost in court, that makes them guilty. That's the way it works in our country. Courts of law decide ultimate innocence or guilt. I don't think Woodfin should be asked to leave, they should just pay the court ordered monies they owe.
Having said this, I am chagrined that Woodfin chose this path. I like to think Emeryville is a place without all this posturing and bloviating on the part of the business sector. This reflects badly on our town. We should expect better behavior here.
Think Ken Bukowski is happy this story has taken over the headline space?
The malcontent is right, this is not the kind of business we want reflecting Emeryville. We want businesses like Pixar, not Woodfin. The basic minimum is that they have to obey the law. All the other hotels in town are in compliance, why can't Woodfin comply?
I get the feeling these workers are never going to get their money.
I've always thought this must be very uncomfortable for Nora Davis and Ken Bukowski since they both worked on the NO on measure C, the living wage for hotel workers initiative. Now, they're tasked with making sure the law is obeyed. These two don't think people should be paid a living wage in our town…a 'successful' town is one where workers have to be trucked in to provide service. Emeryville is doing good when the people that work here can't afford to live here. They get their ideas directly from the undeveloped world.
I just re-read the dec 20 guy…It never ceases to amaze me how much denial plays into the kind of partisan narrow mindedness of the republican philosophy. They have totally dispensed with reason.
I'll be at the Woodfin Hotel protest this Saturday, January 16, 7:30 am. They need to pay up!!