Hotel files suit over wage law

The Los Angeles Airport Hilton Hotel and Towers filed a lawsuit this week challenging a law that would require hotels near Los Angeles International Airport to pay their employees a higher wage -- $9.39 per hour or $10.64 per hour without benefits.

With the city’s “living wage” law slated to take effect Saturday, attorneys for the LAX Hilton argued that the measure violates federal labor laws and cannot be imposed on companies that do not directly work for the city of Los Angeles.

“Hilton does not have any applicable contracts with the city that would enable the city to . . . set wages higher than California’s minimum wage,” the lawsuit states.

Representatives of the Los Angeles Alliance for a New Economy, the nonprofit group that pushed for the higher wage, denounced the lawsuit.

“While many hotels on Century Boulevard are taking great strides toward improving conditions for their workers, it is a real shame that the LAX Hilton continues to take the low road and deprive their workers of what they’ve earned,” said Vivian Rothstein, the alliance’s deputy director.