California Chef Claims Wrongful Termination After Injury

A posh California hotel and marina is facing claims of wrongful termination from a former executive chef. The former executive chef, Eric Sauber, filed a suit against Westgroup Portofino LLC and The Portofino Hotel & Marina of Redondo Beach in Los Angeles County claiming the company fired him claiming business was slow due to the Covid-19 pandemic, but that they quickly hired another person without Sauber’s medical disabilities to fill his executive chef position at the resort and marina.

All the Details of the Case: Eric Sauber v. Westgroup Portofino LLC et al

Case No.: 21STCV08200

Court: Superior Court of the State of California for the County of Los Angeles

Plaintiff, Former Head Chef, Alleges California Hotel Wrongly Fired Him Over Injury

Eric Sauber, former executive chef for a high-end California hotel and marina, filed his complaint in the Court of the State of California for the County of Los Angeles. The lawsuit includes allegations that the resort wrongfully terminated him after he sustained a work-related injury and took legally protected medical leave. Soon after Sauber provided his work-related restrictions to the company, the company allegedly terminated him claiming his position (executive chef) was being eliminated due to inadequate business. According to the complaint, this occurred while the plaintiff was on protected medical leave.

The Plaintiff’s History with the Company:

According to the complaint, Sauber took the job at Portofino in 2019. He worked at the beachside hotel’s restaurant through February 2020. In February of 2020, Sauber sustained a work injury and an orthopedic surgeon placed him on sedentary work restrictions for about a month. After learning of the restrictions, the resort’s human resources director contacted Sauber and let him know he was terminated from his position, and advised him that if business improved he would be reinstated. Contrary to HR’s claims, Sauber soon learned that another employee at the resort was promoted to Sauber’s former position as top chef. The new executive chef’s name was even promoted publicly on the company’s website - advertising a “chef’s table” overseen by chef Hung Quan at BaleenKitchen in the Portofino hotel.

The Basics of the Case: Eric Sauber v. Westgroup Portofino LLC et al

Sauber sustained a slip-and-fall injury in the bathroom while at work. The injuries were serious enough to require arthroscopic knee surgery. After surgery, Sauber took protected medical leave in order to fulfill restrictions prescribed by a doctor. While he was on medical leave, the company told him they were forced to lay him off due to the negative effect of Covid-19 on the hotel’s business. Another hotel employee was quickly given Sauber’s former title and position at the hotel’s restaurant, and was even advertised as the head chef in online advertisements for the restaurant. Sauber’s counsel attempted to settle the matter out of court, but negotiations failed, and Sauber filed suit against Portofino under California's Private Attorneys General Act and the state's Fair Employment and Housing Act. Sauber cites various violations including: disability discrimination, failure to accommodate his disabilities, retaliation and wrongful termination.

If you need to discuss California labor law violations in the workplace or if you need to file a California wrongful termination lawsuit, please get in touch with Blumenthal Nordrehaug Bhowmik DeBlouw LLP. Experienced employment law attorneys are ready to assist you in any one of various law firm offices located in San Diego, San Francisco, Sacramento, Los Angeles, Riverside, and Chicago.