Lawsuits

HIV-Positive Busboy Suing The Ivy For Wrongful Termination

The Ivy
The Ivy Photo: Alan Light via Flickr

The L.A. Times reports that a lawsuit was filed yesterday against The Ivy, designer Lynn von Kersting and Richard Irving’s capital for the rich and famous to gobble giant salads in Beverly Hills. The suit alleges that an employee, Reymundo Martinez, was discriminated against and wrongfully terminated from his job bussing tables after being diagnosed with HIV. The plaintiff apparently took a week off of work as a result of side effects caused by medication he began taking and returned to work asking for “reasonable accommodations” to be made at the restaurant to permit him to carry on with his “essential job duties” and had a note from his doctor saying he could continue working. Martinez was terminated soon-after, with the suit alleging that “he was unable to professionally carry out his duties.” What do The Ivy’s owners have to say?

Irving maintains that the restaurant was not aware of his HIV-positive status and fired for “a normal reason” he’s unable to expound on. The owner tells the paper, “He never told us he was sick. When we let him go, we didn’t know he was sick.” Meanwhile, the lawsuit maintains that the restaurant, no stranger to star gossip or dramatic accusations, violated the Fair Employment and Housing Act.

Suit alleges the Ivy fired employee diagnosed with HIV [LAT]

HIV-Positive Busboy Suing The Ivy For Wrongful Termination