Two former Norms restaurants employees and one current worker Wednesday were ordered to arbitrate their lawsuit claims against the family restaurant chain, including one woman who alleges she was fired for a mistaken non-charge of a $4 wings order and another worker who maintains he lost his job for complaining about unpaid overtime and missed rest breaks.
Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Rupert A. Byrdsong heard arguments and then granted Norms’ motion to compel arbitration while also putting the case on hold pending a July 17, 2026, status conference.
The plaintiffs in the Los Angeles Superior Court lawsuit are Nancy De Leon, Francisco Aguilar Estrada and Manuel Ceja. The multitude of causes of action alleged include wrongful termination, pregnancy discrimination, retaliation, failure to provide meal periods and rest breaks, failure to accommodate and engage in the interactive process and several state Labor Code violations.
The workers individually seek in excess of $400,000 in each category of compensatory, punitive and emotional distress damages. The suit does not state at which Norms the plaintiffs worked, but a separate document refers to the Norms location on Valley Boulevard in El Monte.
In their previous court papers, Norms attorneys denied the plaintiffs’ allegations and said all three had been paid any wages owed. The same lawyers also contended that the trio was bound to arbitrate any employment disputes.
According to the suit filed, De Leon was hired in June 2018 and began her employment with the restaurant as a shift leader and server.
As a shift leader, De Leon trained new employees, did cashier duties and took orders, and as a server she also took orders in addition to serving food and cleaning tables.
De Leon became pregnant in May 2023 it what turned out to be a high-risk pregnancy that caused her to take time off a month later, according to the suit, which additionally states that De Leon kept management informed about work restrictions she would need once she returned and she further says that a district manager congratulated her on her pregnancy.
“However, Norms refused to accommodate plaintiff De Leon and chose to avoid scheduling her to work,” the suit filed Feb. 13 states.
Before her pregnancy, De Leon was only offered about five rest breaks a month and a chef harassed her, asking her if she liked him and sending her videos of guard dogs, guns and grenades around his house, the suit alleges.
After De Leon’s doctor told her to take disability leave in October 2023 until her maternity leave, management told her she was being demoted to a server only, the suit states. until six to eight weeks after the birth of her child.
DeLeon was terminated last October for not charging a customer for a $3.99 order of wings, which DeLeon admitted doing by mistake but did not believe it justified her losing her job, the suit states. She maintains she was actually let go for getting pregnant and seeking accommodations, the suit states.
In a sworn statement, De Leon said she had no idea that when signing her employment papers she was giving up her right to a jury trial in case she brought a lawsuit against Norms.
“I did not understand what arbitration was when I signed the paperwork packet and had no idea I was consenting to arbitration by signing any document in that packet,” De Leon said.
Estrada was hired as a cook in 2001 and alleges he was required by the manager to sign a paper stating that on one day he finished work at 3 p.m. when he really was done at 3:30 p.m., an order that denied him 30 minutes overtime, the suit states.
Estrada said he also was fired last October and told he had mishandled food and had a poor work attitude, which he alleges is an excuse and that he was actually let go for speaking out about overtime and missed meal and rest breaks.
Ceja was hired as a dishwasher in 2019 and promoted five years later to bus boy. While still a dishwasher, Ceja broke a finger on the job and alleges he was required to work with that condition.
Ceja said he later had to have surgery on the finger and that when he returned in October 2019, Norms did not abide by work restrictions given him by his daughter and cut his hours.
Ceja says that when he asked management why he was given fewer employment hours, he was told that work was slow at the time and that the hours would be restored when his finger got better, according to the suit.