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Hilton Management Company Settles Discrimination Suit

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Managers of the Hilton hotel chain recently settled a racial discrimination lawsuit with former Latino employees who had been terminated from their positions as banquet servers at one of the hotel’s Los Angeles County locations.

The Los Angeles Times reports that Landwin Management Inc., the management company that runs a popular Hilton hotel, allegedly fired several Latino banquet servers and replaced them with less qualified Chinese workers. Employment lawyers with the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission represented the Latino employees in their lawsuit, but the case quickly settled for $500,000.

Stephen Ronk, a lawyer for Landwin Management, stated that the company does not admit to racial discrimination and that the only reason for the settlement is to avoid expensive litigation costs. Mr. Ronk told Los Angeles Times that the company was simply looking for a “leaner staffing model” when hiring the new employees.

“This is an international hotel. It’s not a Chinese hotel,” Mr. Ronk said. “We don’t make decisions to hire anyone based on their ethnicity.”

Yet racial discrimination against Latino workers exists in many parts of the country, including Houston, Texas. The Texas Workforce Commission reports that Chapter 21 of the Texas Labor Code and Title VII of the Civil Rights Act strictly prohibit racial discrimination. But despite such strict regulations, the Southern Poverty Law Center reports that low-income Latino immigrants in the South are routinely the targets of wage theft and racial profiling. If you’ve been a victim of racial discrimination in the workplace, don’t hesitate to call a Houston employment lawyer or the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission to learn more information about filing a claim.

Related Resources:

  • Avoiding Discrimination Based on Race and National Origin (FindLaw)
  • Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964: Equal Employment Opportunity (FindLaw)
  • Houston Employment Lawyer Directory (FindLaw)

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