Edhat Staff
By edhat staff
Over 150 employees of the Four Seasons Biltmore Hotel have taken legal action to obtain “No-Fault Separation Pay.” The employees are represented by Anticouni & Associates, a Santa Barbara-based law firm specializing in employment law.
Over 450 employees have been furloughed from the Biltmore since March of this year. According to the employees, the furlough was needed to close the Hotel due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Employees were told they would be called back to work when it was sufficiently safe for both employees and guests. Employees were later told they would remain furloughed well into 2021 because of a corporate decision to remodel the hotel. In a telephone call last Tuesday with employees, Four Seasons executives stated they had no idea when the hotel would re-open and it might remain closed until sometime in 2022, according to Anticouni & Associates.
Earlier this year employees were informed the Hotel would no longer pay their portion of employee’s Health Insurance, and effective July 2020, employees would be responsible for the full cost of their Health Insurance. In August, nearly 300 employees marched through Montecito, to the resort on Channel Drive, and to its owner Ty Warner’s home holding signs and banners. Some read “Furloughed for Far Too Long” and “Shame on Ty Warner,” while others stated the individual employee’s years of service with some boasting over thirty years of employment.
Anticouni & Associates state a majority of the employees remain unemployed and uninsured.
Four Seasons Biltmore property on Channel Drive in Montecito (courtesy photo)
“We contend the furlough caused by the pandemic became a layoff when corporate Four Seasons decided to prevent employees from returning to work while it remodels the Hotel. Any argument that it remains unsafe for employees to return to work at the Hotel is pretext given that furloughed employees at the San Ysidro Ranch Hotel, also owned by Ty Warner, have returned to work,” Anticouni & Associates stated in a press release.
The law firm asserts the Four Seasons’ Employee Handbook provides for Separation Pay when employees are laid off and the furlough became a layoff when the Hotel and Warner decided to keep employees unemployed and uninsured for at least a year and perhaps well into 2022. The Employee Handbook also states that it created a “contract” with its employees. Four Seasons’ failure to provide its employees with Separation Pay was and is a breach of contract.
The filing provides examples of potential compensation. If an employee worked at the hotel for 10 years with an average hourly rate of $25.00, they would be entitled to $16,000. If an employee worked at the hotel for 20 years with an average annual salary of $75,000, they would be entitled to $37,500.
The employee handbook prohibits class action lawsuits and states disputes must be resolved at mediation, or if unsuccessful, arbitration. Anticouni & Associates states it will immediately demand a mediation, and, if unsuccessful, arbitration, for each employee represented.
“The Four Seasons has now confirmed that its 450 laid-off employees will be without their jobs for at least 14 months during a recession where jobs are non-existent. There is no guarantee that any of the employees will be rehired. The Four Seasons cancelled their employees’ medical insurance in the middle of a pandemic that is killing 1,000 Americans every day,” said Bruce Anticouni, the law firm’s founder.
“A majority of our clients remain unemployed. Unemployment Insurance, which will run out before the Hotel might reopen, is insufficient to pay even the basic necessities of life- like rent and food. There is no money left over to pay for the health insurance the terminated employees and their families lost when Four Seasons abruptly cancelled their insurance five months ago. The Separation Pay will a lifeline to hundreds of former Four Seasons employees during the deep recession which is expected to last until at least 2022.”
Warner released a press statement following the employee protest in August stating he had been working with his team since April to understand the impacts of the pandemic and the implications it will have for guest and employee health and safety. He said as the owner of the property he decided to take time to explore state-of-the-art decontamination technologies to eliminate flu/virus exposure with a targeted reopening in early or mid-2021.
“We fully plan to reopen in the safest manner possible. Therefore, we believe it is in the best interests of our employees to keep them on furlough status – where they can receive unemployment benefits – rather than sever their employment – where they would lose seniority, PTO, vacation time, and benefits that they have individually accrued during their tenure,” Warner said.
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August 7, 2020: Biltmore Hotel Workers Protest Employment Uncertainty
PItmix: I think the idea is to get rid of employees who have been there for many years who are making higher wages, and replace with less experienced employees who will gladly accept a job in these uncertain times. For those who lose their jobs, it’s also an opportunity to move on to something else or return to school for additional education/skills. Not exactly a win/win, but the owner has the final say (I believe the owner(s) have the final say). Whenever I lost a job due to a layoff or being let go, I always did three things: took an affordable vacation to regroup, signed up for night classes, and then found a better higher paying job. Not everyone can take a vacation of course, but that’s what I did (one time it was for five months to Costa Rica, Argentina, Chile, Peru, Australia, and to New Zealand).
Ty Warner and Four Seasons are ruining the lives of 450 unemployed and uninsured locals. They have negatively affected Santa Barbara now and for years to come! What a shame. Their employees made what The Biltmore is today. Pay them what they deserve. Don’t expect them to live off ~$1800/month with kids to feed and rent to pay. UNBELIEVABLE 🙁
The house never put forth a clean bill, until then we won’t know if the Senate would pick it up as they said they would. Could any of the three people that thumbs downed my prior post explain why anything related to cannabis should be in a covid relief bill?
Didn’t the Biltmore pay all of their employees while they were shut down following the mudslide? That was over and above what they had to do. Now those same employees are biting the hand that fed them. Hopefully Ty will not rehire any of them.
Ty Warner paid their salaries ONLY because he was able to collect insurance for losses and business interruption. He made a wise business decision NOT charity. Wake up Santa Barbara!!!
Insurance $$$, not from the generosity of the owner. Get your facts straight before such an ignorant comment comes fumbling out of your mouth. Shame on you for wishing I’ll will upon anyone. Especially during these times.
Baby, the way I read it, if you stay on furlough then you get unemployment and have the rights to your job when they reopen. But if unemployment runs out in 26 weeks (around now), how do you survive after that? No one can afford to hang on if they aren’t getting money from somewhere.
What a shame to read this as a local resident. Ty Warner and Four Seasons should be ashamed of themselves leaving 450 employees without health benefits when they need it the most during a pandemic. Sound to me that Mr. Warner is play games again and is trying to chocking Four Seasons out. Four Seasons obviously does not have any control over the rich guys toy. This makes our community look and feel bad. This is absolutely disgusting and appalling to me and my family. Maybe Mirmar is the better hotel after all.
Hey Ty – how does it feel to know that the Four Seasons Total Landscape Company is a better employer than you are?
“… the idea is to get rid of employees who have been there for many years who are making higher wages, and replace with less experienced employees…”
Yet you call it an opportunity. Okay fine.
722 Bro, take a walk down the street to the Miramar, which has magically withstood the governor’s evil plan to shut down all hotels. How did they do it/
They should be protesting their Governor.
No, they shouldn’t. Hotels are allowed to be open, almost all in SB are. Ty Warner is expecting his staff to wait for 1-2 years without pay and then come back to work? That’s insane. They probably figured it’s cheaper to close than open.
Just another form of busting employee groups. It is so embarrassing that such wealthy people are so petty when it comes to those who get by on ordinary income.
The employees made the Biltmore the quality institution that it was for so many years. So sad and tragic for the staff who have lost their livelihoods.
The real gripe is with Senate and their refusal to compromise for the benefit of the unemployed and struggling. Unemployment NEEDS to be padded in this unprecedented time. Fyi to any laid off workers losing health insurance, California has surprisingly solid Medi-cal health/dental/vision insurance for free if you have lost your income. You apply through the same website as Covered CA.
That’s not accurate @9:49. The house is playing politics with covid relief (well, I guess it’s all political games with both the senate and house unfortunately) but the house refuses to put forth a “clean” bill without a bunch of pet projects unrelated to covid relief. A clean bill will get a vote in the Senante, but the house has refused to back out all the pork and pet projects. If the house was serious about covid relief, why does the HEROS Act even mention cannabis? (let alone more times than jobs).
I can only find that unemployment lasts 26 weeks. Haven’t these people run out of this by now? Maybe this is why they want the separation pay now.
The 2 of your have repeated the dem and rep talking points. Is there actually some truth to be found in this info? My understanding was that Trump and McConnell didn’t want their bill to help any blue states, or their cities. I hope Biden returns the favor.
Hey Biltmore and Coral Casino Staff,
Santa Barbara Home Improvement Center, ACE on Gutierrez Street, is always looking for enthusiastic hard working individuals to join our team of 75 employees. Great start pay of $16.25 per hour with full medical benefits at 25% employee co-pay, free dental, paid holidays and sick time, and more. If interested, please contact Tom Richards, Operations Manager
Getting rid of all of the employees with experience with that hotel and restaurant is very short-sighted, if that is truly their intention. The employees’ quality service is required to be top notch if the Biltmore wants to be a 4 or 5 star venue and you don’t get that with cheap inexperienced workers hired off the street.
that is not even close to “great” starting pay
what a scumbag. shame on you Ty Warner!
Any way you look at it this it’s a shaft move by the Biltmore/Warner. Not surprising though: “Hey! It might be a good time to dump our employees and renovate again! Kill two birds with one stone!” Most rich guys don’t get that way by being nice.
Those deleted comments must be really bad if the “scumbag” comment is acceptable.
Dog, 16.25/hr is like $34,000/yr. That’s not a livable wage anywhere on the Central Coast.
Basic, if the Dems turn their cheeks any more, their heads will completely spin around. I know you love it when Trump commits crimes and we ignore it for the “good” of the country, but it has gone too far this time. Someone should pay for 500 children whose parents have been disappeared by our government.