Diabetic hostess says she nearly fainted after being denied breaks

A longtime hostess at a Paramount restaurant is suing her former employer, alleging she was forced to resign in 2023 because she was repeatedly denied meal and rest breaks, causing the diabetic plaintiff to nearly pass out two or three times.

Viridiana Santos' Los Angeles Superior Court lawsuit against the Casa Gamino Family Restaurant Inc. include disability discrimination, failure to accommodate, retaliation and multiple violations of the state Labor Code. Santos seeks unspecified compensatory and punitive damages as well as restitution of wages.

A representative for the Alondra Boulevard restaurant could not be immediately reached for comment on the suit brought July 16

Santos was hired as a server in March 2015 and during the next eight years she was denied the lawful meal and rest breaks that other workers were granted, according to the suit, which further states that the plaintiff's two managers regularly interrupted her meal breaks to demand she go back to the host stand and seat customers.

The same managers told Santos to use her rest periods to use the restroom and she complained often about allegedly not being given her full break periods, according to the complaint.

Santos was diagnosed with diabetes in April 2021 and she told the managers so they would know she would need to eat on a regular schedule, but the pair continued to deny or delay her breaks and she believes it was in retaliation for her complaints and her requests for accommodations for her diabetes, the suit states.

"Making matters much worse, because Casa Gamino refused to allow plaintiff to take timely, uninterrupted meal breaks, on two or three occasions during her tenure, plaintiff nearly passed out at work," the suit alleges.

The managers kept half of the daily patron tips for themselves even though they did very little customer service, according to the suit, which further alleges that Santos was paid at a regular pay rate for her usual 10 hours of overtime rather than a premium rate.

Management "merely laughed at her concerns and ignored her requests for proper overtime pay," the suit states.

Santos alleges she suffered further retaliation with a reduction of her work hours and she resigned last October in frustration over her work conditions, according to the suit, which additionally alleges that the plaintiff has experienced substantial earnings losses and suffered emotional distress.