Lauren Teukolsky was quoted in April 22 article by The Guardian, which discusses Amazon’s treatment of injured workers. Workers were allegedly encouraged to continue their shifts shortly after witnessing traumatic events or medical emergencies on the floor. According to the article, workers say Amazon artificially lowers its injury numbers by using its in-house medical clinics, known as AmCare, to filter out injury reports. The article quotes workers as saying these clinics provide minimal care and are used to help Amazon avoid officially recording an injury.

The article describes a recent lawsuit that Teukolsky Law filed against Amazon. In the complaint, plaintiff Juan Loera-Gomez alleges he suffered injuries to his back and shoulders after spending hours lifting boxes that each weighed more than 50 pounds. Amazon allegedly accommodated his injuries by moving him to a light duty position for six months, but abruptly placed him on unpaid leave, saying the company could no longer accommodate his work restrictions. He was then fired. The lawsuit alleges claims for disability discrimination and failure to provide a reasonable accommodation.

The Guardian quoted Ms. Teukolsky saying, “This isn’t an isolated incident. It looks to me there’s a pretty clear pattern of this occurring in Amazon warehouses”

Ms. Teukolsky has represented workers for over two decades and her commentary on the latest developments in employment law is regularly featured by major publications such as Bloomberg Law, Law360, Daily Journal, and the Los Angeles Times.
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To read the article in its entirety, click here. If you believe you’ve been treated unlawfully in the workplace and want to get in touch with our office, click here.

The Inland Empire’s local NPR affiliate, KVCR News, covered a recent lawsuit filed by Teukolsky Law against Amazon on behalf of Juan Loera, a former San Bernardino warehouse employee who sustained life-altering injuries after two years of handling heavy cargo. The lawsuit contends Mr. Loera’s condition required medical accommodation, but he was allegedly forced into unpaid leave and eventually terminated via email, causing significant financial hardship for his family.

Data from the Strategic Organizing Center and the National Employment Law Project shows that the serious injury rate at Amazon facilities was nearly double that of its industry competitors in 2024. The company accounted for 56% of all serious industry injuries, often requiring workers to be moved to light duty or to miss work entirely due to the severity of their physical trauma.

As the Inland Empire continues to serve as a global hub for logistics, this case serves as a bellwether for how large-scale employers manage disability accommodations and the protection of workers who exercise their right to demand safer working conditions.

Mr. Loera is represented by Lauren Teukolsky and staff attorneys at The Warehouse Worker Resources Center, a nonprofit organization dedicated to improving working conditions in the warehouse industry in Southern California. Ms. Teukolsky has represented workers for over two decades, including in unpaid wage cases. Her commentary on the latest developments in employment law is regularly featured by major publications such as Bloomberg Law, Law360, Law.com, and the Los Angeles Times.
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To read the KVCR article, click here. If you believe you’ve been treated unlawfully in the workplace and want to get in touch with our office, click here.

Lauren Teukolsky was recently selected to the 2026 Top 100 Southern California Super Lawyers list and the 2026 Top 50 Women Southern California Super Lawyers list. This is the third time Ms. Teukolsky has earned a spot on the “Top 100” list. The selections were made by Super Lawyers, a rating service that recognizes “outstanding lawyers who have attained a high degree of peer recognition and professional achievement.”
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This year’s lists mark Ms. Teukolsky’s fourteenth consecutive selection by Super Lawyers, a streak that began in 2013.  Before that, she was selected as a Super Lawyers Rising Star from 2004 to 2010.

The Super Lawyers selection process involves a multiphase process that includes a statewide survey of lawyers, an independent evaluation of candidates, and peer reviews by practice area. The objective of the selection process is to create a comprehensive and diverse listing of exceptional attorneys. The top 5% of attorneys are selected to Super Lawyers lists each year.

Lauren Teukolsky has worked to protect employees’ rights for over two decades and speaks regularly at conferences on employment law. Her commentary on the latest developments in employment law is regularly featured by major publications such as Bloomberg Law, Law360, Law.com, and the Los Angeles Times.

To learn more about Ms. Teukolsky, click here. If you believe you have been wrongfully terminated, harassed, or suffered from other unlawful workplace practices, click here to get in touch with our office.  

In a June 4th article, the LA Times reported on a lawsuit brought by marketing executive, Chad Bustos, against his former employer, Terranea Resort. Teukolsky Law filed the lawsuit in Los Angeles County Superior Court on June 4, 2025, alleging that Terranea’s President, Ralph Grippo, retaliated against Bustos.

Bustos led an all-female marketing team, including some new and expectant mothers. He alleges that he was illegally fired for defending his female employees from Grippo’s discriminatory, anti-pregnancy comments and actions.

The lawsuit details a February 2024 meeting in which Grippo allegedly became enraged after learning that one of his employees was planning to take maternity leave. Another female marketing team member returned from maternity leave weeks prior to this February meeting. Grippo allegedly interrogated each female employee, demanding to know if they were pregnant.

After the meeting, Grippo allegedly began treating the marketing team harshly by implementing strict attendance requirements and using the resort’s camera to monitor their movements.

According to the complaint, Grippo wanted to discipline the team and tried to force Bustos into complying. Bustos pleaded for more flexibility for the young mothers on his all-female team, noting that Terranea could be opening itself up to a lawsuit. Grippo is alleged to have terminated Bustos in retaliation for not complying with his directives to write up the females on his team.

Teukolsky Law has filed previous lawsuits against Terranea and its parent company, JC Resorts. Teukolsky Law has filed a wage-and-hour lawsuit that settled for $2.15 million in 2019, a sexual harassment lawsuit on behalf of four young women which settled in 2024 for an undisclosed amount, and a sexual harassment lawsuit on behalf of Sandra Pezqueda. Pezqueda was named a Time Magazine’s Person of the Year as one of the “silence breakers” who spoke out against the sexual harassment they’ve experienced.

To read the LA Times article, click here. To read the Bustos v Terranea complaint, click here. If you believe you have faced sexual assault or harassment at work, contact Teukolsky Law today for a free consultation.

Lauren Teukolsky will speak at the Sixth Annual CLE Conference on Gender Discrimination and Harassment Law at the UC Berkeley School of Law. The conference is on Thursday, January 23, 2025, and Friday, January 24, 2025. Berkeley’s Center on Comparative Equality and Anti-Discrimination Law is hosting  the conference, which will explore new developments in gender discrimination and harassment law in California and other jurisdictions. Ms. Teukolsky is scheduled to speak on forced arbitration of employment claims, alongside David Lowe, a Partner at Rudy Exelrod Zieff & Lowe, and Steve Tindall, a Partner at Gibbs Law Group. Topics covered will include a new federal law excluding sexual harassment and sexual assault claims from arbitration (the “Ending Forced Arbitration of Sexual Assault and Sexual Harassment Act of 2021”), and recent cases that interpret its scope. 

​Ms. Teukolsky has worked to protect employees’ rights for over two decades and regularly speaks at conferences on employment law. Last September, Ms. Teukolsky was selected to moderate a session at CELA’s (California Employment Lawyer Association) 36th Annual Employment Law Conference on individual wage-and-hour arbitrations. Her commentary on the latest developments in employment law is regularly featured by major publications such as Bloomberg Law, Law360, Law.com, and the Los Angeles Times.

Ms. Teukolsky’s panel takes place on Friday, January 24, 2025, at 1:30 PM PT at The International House in Berkeley. To register for the conference, click here. If you believe you’ve been treated unlawfully in the workplace and want to get in touch with our office, click here.

Teukolsky Law filed a class action lawsuit today against the Hyatt Regency Long Beach alleging that Hyatt violated the Long Beach Hotel Working Conditions Initiative (“Initiative”), a measure passed by voters in 2018 to provide protections to hotel workers.  A number of cities have passed similar hotel worker ordinances, including Los Angeles, Santa Monica, Seattle, and Oakland, among others.  This is the first lawsuit in the country brought under one of these “Housekeepers’ Bill of Rights” laws.  Lauren Teukolsky represents the plaintiffs along with Zoe Tucker of UNITE HERE Local 11.

The Initiative protects hotel employees against the risk of sexual assault by requiring hotels to provide them with panic buttons, and to post notices on guestroom doors stating that hotel workers may not be subjected to threatening behavior.  It also has a “Humane Workload” provision that guarantees room attendants double pay on days when their workload exceeds proscribed limits.  

The lawsuit alleges that Hyatt failed to post the required notices, and seeks injunctive relief requiring Hyatt to comply with the Initiative.  The lawsuit further alleges that Hyatt failed to pay room attendants double when they cleaned more square footage than permitted by the Initiative.  The lawsuit alleges that managers pressured housekeepers to work through their rest breaks to finish cleaning all of their assigned rooms as quickly as possible in violation of California law.  

The lawsuit is part of a larger trend of local governments passing laws that are more protective of workers than states or the federal government.  Los Angeles and several other cities have adopted Living Wage Ordinances, minimum wage ordinances, and sick pay ordinances that are far more protective of workers than state or federal legislation.  Local ordinances to protect hotel workers from grueling workloads are just the latest example of efforts by cities to improve the working conditions of workers in specific industries.  The trend can also be seen in fair scheduling ordinances, with Los Angeles recently passing the first such ordinance for retail workers.  Cities such as Chicago, New York, San Francisco, and Seattle have also passed various fair scheduling laws of their own.  

If you believe that you have not been paid proper wages, contact Teukolsky Law today for a free consultation.

The Hollywood Reporter published an article on March 22, 2022 discussing the criticism that Beyoncé and Jay-Z have drawn for deciding to hold their annual Oscars after-party at the Chateau Marmont, despite mounting allegations that the Chateau has engaged in racist practices to the detriment of its Black employees and customers.  The party, known as the “Gold Party,” has long been one of the most coveted invites of Oscars night and was routinely thrown at the Chateau Marmont prior to the pandemic. 

This year, Beyoncé and Jay-Z’s plans to host their first Gold Party since the pandemic at the Chateau has drawn criticism because of an ongoing boycott of Chateau Marmont, led by the local hotel workers’ Union, UNITE HERE Local 11. The boycott, which has support from celebrities such as Spike Lee and Issa Rae, was prompted in part by allegations in two lawsuits filed by Teukolsky Law in 2021.

The first lawsuit was filed on behalf of former Chateau events server Thomasina Gross (pictured above), a Black woman, and charges the Chateau with race discrimination, sex harassment, and retaliation. The second lawsuit was filed on behalf of former Chateau night auditor April Blackwell, also a Black woman, and involves allegations about repeated racist behavior from guests that went unchecked by her superiors at the Chateau. Both lawsuits were previously covered in reports by The Hollywood Reporter and the Los Angeles Times.

If you believe you have been experienced race discrimination, sexual harassment, retaliation, or other unlawful workplace practices, contact Teukolsky Law today for a free consultation.