Audio Visual Services Group, Inc. v. Superior Court

— Plaintiff Juan Solares seeks to represent a class of employees who are or were employed by Audio Visual Services Group, Inc., doing business as PSAV Presentation Services (PSAV), which provides audiovisual services to hotels within the Century Corridor Property Business Improvement District (Century Corridor PBID) adjacent to the Los Angeles International Airport (LAX). They allege that PSAV collects from customers a separately designated “service charge,” “delivery charge,” “facility charge,” “gratuity,” “administrative fee,” or other such charge that “customers might reasonably believe . . . were for the class member/employees’ services.” PSAV allegedly fails to pay the separately designated charges it collects to its employees in violation of the Hotel Service Charge Reform Ordinance (Ordinance) in the Los Angeles Municipal Code. (L.A. Ord. No. 178084, adding art. 4, ch. XVIII, § 184.00 et seq. to L.A. Mun. Code (LAMC).) The failure of PSAV to pay these service charges to its employees is the basis for Solares’s unfair competition law claim (UCL). (Bus. & Prof. Code, § 17200 et seq.)

In Garcia v. Four Points Sheraton LAX (2010) 188 Cal.App.4th 364 [ 115 Cal.Rptr.3d…