Anaheim Marriott executives have agreed to pay employees laid off during the COVID-19 pandemic, who they allegedly failed to rehire when the hotel reopened, nearly $3 million as part of a settlement to avoid a $12.5 million fine from the state labor commissioner.  

Announcement of the $2.75 million settlement comes nearly two years after an investigation by the California Labor Commissioner’s office found Marriott executives violated the state’s COVID era worker recall law and slapped the hotel with over $12 million in fines for allegedly violating a state labor law.

The California Labor Commissioner’s Office investigated complaints placed by workers including hotel engineers. Credit: JULIE LEOPO, Voice of OC

The Right to Recall became law in 2021 and requires hospitality and service industry employers like hotels to offer workers hit with pandemic lay offs the chance to get their jobs back based on seniority before hiring new employees. The law is slated to expire at the start of next year.  

Roberto Medina, a maintenance engineer from Anaheim who worked at the hotel for about 10 years, said being laid off from his job during the pandemic left him in economic hardship as a bread winner in the family.

Roberto Medina moments before his remarks during the Tuesday, Aug. 4, 2026, news conference announcing a $2.75 million settlement secured by the California Labor Commissioner’s Office to compensate workers laid off during the COVID-19 pandemic at the UNITE HERE Local 11 office in Garden Grove, Calif. Credit: JULIE LEOPO, Voice of OC

“When the pandemic hit, I was laid off without warning and without being given a reason why. I waited for a call back to resume work once the pandemic ends but I did not get a call back,” Medina said at a Tuesday press conference in Spanish. 

“This economic help will go a long way to help me settle debts, to help me upkeep my family, maintain my family, and it’s going to help me in many ways. I also want to reiterate the importance of knowing that you have the law behind you.”

Spokespeople for Marriott did not respond to emailed questions on the settlement Monday. 

California Labor Commissioner Lilia Garcia-Brower said in a Tuesday interview the settlement means the hotel will not have to pay the over $12 million in fines and called it the biggest settlement amount of its kind in the state.

California Labor Commissioner Lilia Garcia-Brower speaks to the media during the news conference announcing a $2.75 million settlement secured by the California Labor Commissioner’s Office to compensate workers laid off during the COVID-19 pandemic at the UNITE HERE Local 11 office in Garden Grove, Calif. Credit: JULIE LEOPO, Voice of OC

At the news conference, she said the settlement would not have been possible if it weren’t for the workers who stepped forward to ring the alarm bells.

“Today’s settlement provides meaningful relief for those (workers) and their families, and communicates to employers that in California, you must follow the law,” Garcia-Brower said.

“When workers speak up, results happen.”

Garcia-Brower said impacted workers are expected to receive a slice of the settlement based on how long they went without being offered their job back.

The settlement comes after the state’s department of industrial relations announced the $12.5 million citation against the hotel in the Disneyland Resort area in 2024, stating the fines sought by the labor commissioner’s office would go to nearly 30 impacted employees.

Their probe was launched after Unite Here Local 11, a union representing hotel workers, reported to the state’s labor commissioner office the hotel allegedly violated the recall law by using a staffing agency to hire new employees instead of offering former workers their job back.

Ada Briceño, co-president of Unite Here Local 11, said in a Monday phone interview she is happy state officials are enforcing the law and ensuring the workers will be compensated.

At Tuesday’s news conference, Briceño said hotel employees lost their jobs during the pandemic at no fault of their own and they deserved to be offered their employment back when businesses reopened.

She also said the settlement sends a clear message that worker protections matter.

“Behind this settlement are families who struggle to pay rent, put food on the table, and make ends meet and while this cannot erase those hardships it delivers long overdue justice,” Briceño said at the news conference.

“To every employer, the message is simple: respect workers and follow the law.”

From left, Ada Briceño, co-president of Unite Here Local 11 and Roberto Medina, former Marriot maintenance engineer from Anaheim, during a Tuesday, Aug. 4, 2026, news conference announcing a $2.75 million settlement secured by the California Labor Commissioner’s Office to compensate workers laid off during the COVID-19 pandemic at the UNITE HERE Local 11 office in Garden Grove, Calif. Credit: JULIE LEOPO, Voice of OC

Raul Castro, an engineer who also worked at the Marriott for 16 years before being laid off, thanked the union and the state’s labor commissioner for standing up for workers like himself.

In an interview, Castro said the money from the settlement would go a long way.

“It’ll solve a lot of my problems that I have right now since the pandemic hit us.”

Hosam Elattar is a Voice of OC reporter. Contact him at helattar@voiceofoc.org.

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