Flying Food Group has sued the city of Los Angeles, alleging the city has falsely claimed the airline catering business has not followed its living wage law.
According to Chicago-based Flying Food, the city’s Office of Contract Compliance said in May that the caterer was in violation of the Living Wage Ordinance and demanded it pay $10 million in back pay to employees. The company said the claims refer to years in which the city allegedly led the company to believe that the pay to its employees was consistent with the law.
Flying Food said that in years past the city applied its wage law only to company employees who worked at Flying Food’s leased facility at Los Angeles International airport, which is owned by the city and therefore companies operating there are subject to the wage law. But those employees not working at the airport were not subject to the higher wages. In its suit, filed Monday, Flying Food argues the city is behaving inappropriately by requiring it to pay back wages that are much higher than those paid by its competitors.
“The LWO applies to the on-airport facility leased by Flying Food Group Pacific from Los Angeles World Airports, which is owned by the city of Los Angeles,” said Flying Food Chief Executive David Cotton in a statement to the Business Journal. “The LWO does not apply to businesses located on off-airport locations.”
In another statement, Cotton said the company follows all laws and regulations and provides employees “fair wages, generous benefits and safe working conditions.”
The city’s assertions, he said, “are unlawful, and we have every confidence that our position will be upheld by the court.”
In 2013, Flying Food and the contract compliance office reached an agreement concerning the company’s wage structure after the company provided the agency with documentation on its payroll practices and operations, according to Flying Food.
Flying Food serves Los Angeles International Airport with more than 500 employees.
In an emailed statement, City Attorney spokesman Frank Mateljan said: “While we just received the lawsuit and are reviewing, City Attorney Mike Feuer stands ready to defend all of our city’s important wage ordinances and to see that workers are paid the monies they are rightly owed.”
