A 60-year-old longtime employee of a Westwood hotel is suing its operators, alleging she was fired in May because of her age and that management used the coronavirus to justify stripping her of her job.
Lulu Juarez’s Los Angeles Superior Court lawsuit against E. H. Summit Inc., operators of the Luxe Sunset Boulevard hotel, and her former supervisor, Efrem Harkham, alleges wrongful termination and age discrimination. She’s seeking unspecified damages.
A representative for the hotel did not immediately reply to a request for comment.
Juarez began working at the hotel as the housekeeping manager in March 1990 and held the position until 2003, when she began to work with maintenance and engineering and eventually became director of facilities, according to her court papers.
Harkham was Juarez’s direct supervisor and the plaintiff oversaw day-to-day facilities operations, the suit says. During her 30 years working for E.H. Summit, Juarez says she received several promotions and salary increases.
Juarez was furloughed on April 10 due to the pandemic and had expected to eventually return to work. But on May 18, she was notified she was being fired that day, according to the suit.
Juarez believes her job duties were given to a younger woman who had no experience with facilities operations and who had worked at the Luxe hotel less than five years. Juarez not only had experience with engineering and maintenance, but she also was trained in managing housekeeping as well as managing the hotel generally, including the front desk, according to her court papers.
Juarez routinely served in a managing role at the hotel on weekends and could easily have stepped into any role at the hotel, according to her suit.