L.A. Councilwoman Is a Central Figure in Hotel Labor Dispute

The Los Angeles City Council voted Tuesday to urge the LAX Hilton to resolve an increasingly testy labor dispute with some employees, even as one security officer for the hotel pressed claims with police that he was injured in a scuffle with Councilwoman Janice Hahn during a demonstration Friday.

The council unanimously approved a resolution asking the hotel to “work together” with 75 employees who were suspended during a job action. The council asked the hotel to “resolve this situation in a fair and equitable manner.”

The workers were suspended Thursday for gathering without permission for more than two hours in an employee cafeteria amid anger about the suspension of a colleague, reportedly for misconduct. Union officials accused the hotel of targeting the worker for supporting their organizing effort.

The suspension added fuel to an already touchy situation at the hotel, where workers and managers have engaged in a bitter, and at times physical, debate over proposed labor representation for employees.

Hahn, who has openly sided with the workers in that debate and took part in Friday’s demonstration, introduced the council motion. The suspensions, she said, were unjustified and represented “overreacting by the management.”

Grant Coonley, general manager of the Hilton Los Angeles Airport hotel, said many of the workers are scheduled to return to the job today and Thursday. Still at issue is whether they will be paid for days they missed while under suspension.

To press her support for the workers, Hahn led a group of the suspended employees and labor activists on a march into the hotel Friday afternoon. While on the march, the workers passed through a barricade onto hotel property, then pushed past hotel security officers to enter the hotel.

One of those officers, Amilcar Sanchez, filed a battery complaint with the Los Angeles Police Department, LAPD officials confirmed Tuesday.

Sanchez alleged in an interview that Hahn struck him with a fist and elbowed him hard as she and the crowd pushed past him.

“I was hit in the chest and upper arm, and it was her,” Sanchez said, adding that three other demonstrators also made physical contact with him.

Hilton officials said a videotape of the incident from surveillance cameras was turned over to Capt. William Hayes of the LAPD’s Pacific Division on Monday.

A viewing of the tape shows a woman who appears to be Hahn leading the workers as they walk up to and through a line of security officers. On the tape, her right arm is visible moving toward Sanchez’s chest, but he turns and blocks the view, so the alleged punch to the chest is not visible.

She is next seen raising her right arm as the crowd pushes from behind, and her elbow swings so that its point makes contact with Sanchez’s upper arm.

When asked if it appears Hahn assaulted Sanchez, Coonley, the hotel general manager, said: “To me it looks that way.”

The LAPD’s Hayes said a police report was filed by Sanchez but initially did not list Hahn by name. However, Lt. Paul Vernon confirmed Tuesday that Sanchez later became aware of Hahn’s identity and that she has since “become the focus of the investigation” by detectives from the department’s robbery-homicide division.

The allegations could constitute a misdemeanor battery case, but no conclusion has been reached yet about whether to refer the case to prosecutors, Vernon said.

Hahn, who has denied Sanchez’s allegations, said any contact occurred as she was trying to maintain her balance while the crowd pushed from behind.

“I remember it differently. I remember them pushing me,” Hahn said. “If in any way I hurt them, I certainly didn’t intend to.”

Former Inglewood City Councilman David Tabor, who was beside Hahn during the incident, said he did not see her push or strike a security officer.

A medical report said Sanchez suffered injuries, including a bruised chest, that limited him to lifting no more than 20 lbs. Hahn said she had not been contacted by the police.

“It’s preposterous to think that a 54-year-old woman would harm a young security guard,” she said.