A spokesman for the Laugh Factory issued a statement Monday challenging the veracity of the labor-related claims made by three plaintiffs in two lawsuits, saying they are inconsistent with the institution’s longtime service within the community.
Laugh Factory representative Greg Waskul said owner Jamie Masada plans to respond appropriately to the claims in the two complaints.
“I have seen the love that the Laugh Factory puts into supporting its employees, comics and the community, and in my view, it is simply inconceivable that an organization that does all this good would treat its employees as alleged in these lawsuits,” the Waskul statement read. “Jamie is very hurt and is planning to countersue the attorneys who filed these frivolous, inaccurate and malicious lawsuits.”
The Laugh Factory has brought “laughter, smiles and joy to millions of people in Los Angeles and throughout the world for the last 45 years” and also provided vital support to help people in need, fought for social justice for all and built a long-term reputation for treating their comedians and employees with respect and dignity by leading with its heart, Waskul further said.
The first Los Angeles Superior Court suit was filed Tuesday by plaintiffs Michelle O’Shea and Monroe-Nicole Edokpa, who work at the Hollywood Laugh Factory on Sunset Boulevard and brought their complaint under the state’s Private Attorneys General Act. The law authorizes allegedly aggrieved employees to file lawsuits to recover civil penalties on behalf of themselves, other employees and the state for purported Labor Code violations.
The suit seeks a recovery of civil penalties. Edokpa was hired in October 2022 and O’Shea in March 2024. The plaintiffs’ duties included serving customers, taking orders, delivering food and beverages, and related restaurant services.
According to the suit, the plaintiffs and other employees were required to take their 30-minute meal breaks at the start of their shifts and most of their breaks were interrupted. The employees also had to work five to six hours after their initial meal break without a second meal period, the suit alleges.
In the second suit filed Friday, hostess Camille Morris, hired in March 2023, alleges that from that time to the present, she has been consistently denied proper rest breaks during her five and six hour shifts, that she has been told to take 30-minute breaks after clocking in rather than in the middle of her shift and that time sheets were falsified regarding meal periods.