LAX Baggage Handler Files ‘Living Wage’ Suit

An LAX baggage handler who said he was fired after asking his boss about the city-mandated living wage filed a lawsuit in Los Angeles County Superior Court asking for reinstatement, back wages and punitive damages. The suit, filed by Gregory Garrett Jr. against Argenbright Security, is the first such claim made under the 1997 ordinance, which sets a minimum wage of $7.36 plus health benefits for employees of city contractors and prohibits retaliation against workers who ask for it. Garrett worked for Atlanta-based Argenbright in LAX’s Terminal 2 for nine months. During a visit by company owner Frank Argenbright in May, Garrett, who earned the minimum wage of $5.75 per hour, said he asked when workers would be brought up to the higher wage. He was fired the next day. Argenbright spokesman Michael Chee said Garrett had a “poor attendance history” and had been slated for dismissal before the encounter. The timing was “just a matter of coincidence,” Chee said. Garrett has since worked for the Service Employees International Union, which is trying to organize Los Angeles International Airport workers. “The main thing is I want to get my job back,” Garrett said. “It’s to prove a point, to show the other workers they can stand up.”