Anaheim Marriott Paid $2.75 Million for Skipping Recall Rights: How Hospitality Workers Enforce Labor Code 2810.8

A hotel can reopen, fill the rooms, and still owe the people it laid off. California’s Right to Recall law is not a courtesy. It is a seniority rule with a dollar figure attached. On August 4, 2026, the Labor Commissioner announced a $2.75 million settlement for 24 workers who were not offered their jobs back at the Anaheim Marriott after pandemic layoffs. That is DIR News Release 2026-64. If you were laid off from a covered hotel, event center, airport operation, or building-service job and watched new hires walk in, you do not wait for the next press conference. You file.

What the Law Says

Labor Code section 2810.8 still operates through December 31, 2026. Assembly Bill 858 (Stats. 2025, Ch. 280) extended the sunset to January 1, 2027, and it keeps violations that happen on or before December 31, 2026, enforceable after that date.

Covered “enterprises” include hotels of 50 or more guest rooms, private clubs with 50 or more lodging rooms, event centers, airport hospitality operations, airport service providers, and building service (janitorial, maintenance, or security) at commercial buildings. A “laid-off employee” is someone who worked for the employer at least six months, whose most recent separation on or after March 4, 2020, was for a COVID-19-related reason — including a shutdown order, lack of business, or a nondisciplinary reduction in force — and who is qualified for the same or a similar position.

Within five business days of establishing a position, the employer must offer that opening in writing, by hand or last known address, and by email and text if it has those contacts. Offers go by seniority (length of service from date of hire). The worker gets at least five business days to accept. If the employer hires someone else and claims the laid-off worker was not qualified, it must send a written notice within 30 days with the reasons and the length of service of the person hired instead. Retaliation for asserting these rights is separately illegal under section 2810.8(c).

The Division of Labor Standards Enforcement has exclusive jurisdiction. A worker who files can be awarded hiring or reinstatement, front pay or back pay for each day the violation continues, and the value of benefits that would have been received. The statute also sets a civil penalty of $100 per employee whose rights were violated, plus $500 per employee per day as liquidated damages until the violation is cured. Those daily sums are recovered by the Labor Commissioner and paid to the worker as compensatory damages. Section 2810.8(d)(2) says there are no criminal penalties for this statute. Do not confuse it with Penal Code 487m.

DIR’s 2024 citation in News Release 2024-87 named Marriott Hotel Services, Inc., Marriott Hotel Services, LLC, and Marriott International, Inc., operating as the Anaheim Marriott at 700 W Convention Way. That citation sought $12,449,175 for 28 workers. DIR said long-serving employees — bell attendants, banquet captains, engineers, landscapers, and lead cooks, some with as many as 40 years — were skipped or offered jobs late, and that the hotel filled work through staffing agencies. The August 2026 settlement is $2.75 million for 24 workers. Those are two different DIR numbers. I am not splitting $2.75 million per head. If you were in that hotel and got no check, call the Labor Commissioner. If you work somewhere else that skipped recall, file your own complaint.

How to Fight Back, Step by Step

1. Confirm you are in a covered enterprise: hotel of 50-plus rooms, event center, airport hospitality or service, private club with lodging, or commercial building service. Write down the legal name on your last wage statement and the address of the worksite.

1. Write the facts of the layoff: last day worked, reason given, date of hire, job title, and whether you were employed at least six months. Keep the layoff notice, unemployment paperwork, and any texts about “we’ll call you when we reopen.”

1. Track who got hired instead. Names, start dates, job titles, and whether they came from a staffing agency. Section 2810.8 requires offers to qualified laid-off workers before the employer hires someone new.

1. File a complaint with the Labor Commissioner’s Office — that is the exclusive forum under section 2810.8(d). File at dir.ca.gov/dlse/HowToFileWageClaim.htm or call 1-833-LCO-INFO (833-526-4636), Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Ask about a Right to Recall / Labor Code 2810.8 complaint, not just unpaid overtime. Immigration status is not required.

1. If you worked at the Anaheim Marriott and never received settlement notice, call the same helpline and cite DIR News Release 2026-64. Do not assume the 24-worker settlement already includes you. The 2024 citation covered 28 workers; the 2026 settlement names 24.

Common Questions

The hotel reopened years ago. Is it too late?

The statute stays operative until January 1, 2027, and violations on or before December 31, 2026, remain enforceable after that. DIR’s Anaheim Marriott investigation reached a 2026 settlement on conduct that started when the hotel reopened in 2021. File anyway. Let the Labor Commissioner apply the dates. Do not talk yourself out of a complaint because a manager said “that law expired.”

Can I sue the hotel in court myself under 2810.8?

Section 2810.8(d) gives the Division of Labor Standards Enforcement exclusive jurisdiction to enforce this section. The path the statute writes is a complaint with the Labor Commissioner. A local ordinance can be stricter. This post is not a court-filing kit. File with DLSE.

Get the free Wage Theft Recovery Kit at wagetheftkit.com — demand-letter templates, hours worksheets, and DLSE filing checklists. The same kit is at justiceprompt.com. Educational use only — not legal advice.