A man has reached a tentative settlement in his lawsuit against the Thai Community Development Center, in which he alleged the Hollywood nonprofit did not pay him for all hours worked and misclassified him as a salaried employee.
Kevin Vazquez’s Los Angeles Superior Court lawsuit allegations included whistleblower retaliation, public disclosure of private facts, intentional infliction of emotional distress and various state Labor Code violations. On Monday, Vazquez’s attorney filed court papers with JudgeRobert B. Broadbelt notifying him of a “conditional” resolution in the case with the expectation a request for dismissal will be filed by Aug. 14.
No terms were divulged. In their previous court papers, Thai Center attorneys denied Vazquez’s allegations and said they were barred by the statute of limitations. The defense lawyers also said that any actions taken by the Thai Center regarding Vazquez were for “legitimate, non-discriminatory business reasons.”
Founded in 1994, the Thai Center works to advance the social and economic well-being of low and moderate income Thai and other immigrants in the greater Los Angeles area through affordable housing, advocacy and social services. Vazquez was hired in April 2022 as a farmers market manager at an annual salary of $70,000 while working nine hours daily on weekdays. His duties included market operations management, vendor recruitment and relations, administrative tasks such as protocol review and grant research. His job also involved physical labor, including market setup and street cleaning.
Despite being a manager, Vazquez could not hire or fire people and was excluded from interview processes for staff who worked with him, according to the suit filed Feb. 11, which further stated that the plaintiff had a good work record.
Vazquez alleged he was denied rest breaks and did not know he was entitled to them until a colleague told him in September 2025. He alleged that he and other employees were often paid days or weeks late and that the Thai Center’s executive director violated his privacy by telling colleagues he was undergoing colon cancer screening.
The Thai Center’s executive director admitted that the organization had financial problems and had government contract reimbursements of more than $2.3 million and told workers to resign if they could not tolerate the late payments, the suit stated. Vazquez filed a written grievance documenting alleged workplace safety problems in December and the alleged hostile workplace environment that existed as a result, the suit stated.
Vazquez resigned because of the workplace conditions and while gathering his personal paperwork the Thai Center accountant profanely shouted at and intimidated the plaintiff, according to the suit.