Furloughed Santa Barbara Four Seasons Workers File Breach-of-Contract Lawsuit as Hotel Remains Closed

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Two furloughed employees of the Santa Barbara Four Seasons Resort The Biltmore allege that the hotel’s operators have interfered with employment contracts by failing to reopen the resort when it was considered safe to do so amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

The 18-page proposed class action states that the Santa Barbara Four Seasons Resort The Biltmore has been closed since March 2020, when roughly 450 employees were furloughed and the hotel’s operations were shuttered due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The case says that hotel operators Ty Warner Hotels & Resorts, LLC and billionaire Ty Warner have refused to give Four Seasons permission to reopen the Santa Barbara property and recall its furloughed employees even after being advised that it is safe to do so.

The plaintiffs, a food and beverage manager and assistant food and beverage manager who have worked for Four Seasons for over 10 and 11 years, respectively, claim that by the end of 2022, the resort’s workers will have been on furlough for almost three years without pay. Per the suit, the Warner defendants have “tortiously and maliciously” interfered with the employees’ contracts with the Four Seasons by keeping the workers “in a state of limbo where they have little to no rights.” 

The lawsuit relays that after the Santa Barbara Four Seasons Resort closed on March 20, 2020 due to restrictions imposed due to the rapidly spreading COVID-19 virus, the hotel’s social media accounts announced that the property would reopen on April 16, 2020. However, “that day came and went,” according to the suit, and the resort remained closed. Per the case, Four Seasons has maintained since May 1, 2020 that it was safe to reopen the Santa Barbara hotel yet needed the Warner defendants’ permission to do so.

The suit says furloughed employees were told on June 25 that starting on July 1, their health insurance would be canceled, and they would be responsible for “100% of the benefit costs (medical, dental and vision).” Following an August 8 employee march to the resort and Ty Warner’s Montecito residence, Warner issued an apology and acknowledged that “the lack of communication with our valued employees at the HOTEL has created unnecessary confusion,” the case relays.

Throughout the following months, employees were informed first that all reservations would be canceled through 2021, then that the hotel would reopen on May 1, 2021, and finally that all reservations had been canceled through 2022, the lawsuit alleges.

According to the case, “[w]hat began as a temporary furlough became a no-fault termination on or about March 20, 2020.”

Importantly, the employees’ contracts with Four Seasons specify that they are to receive separation pay in the event of a no-fault termination unless, if the hotel is sold, the new owners offer comparable employment. According to the case, the Warner defendants’ decision to keep workers on furlough without reopening the hotel has left them ineligible for separation pay or similar employment. If they resign their positions, they will lose their separation pay and other benefits, the suit argues.

The plaintiffs claim to be owed $26,644 and $22,392 in separation pay, respectively, under their contracts with Four Seasons.

The lawsuit looks to represent all employees of Four Seasons Santa Barbara Employment, Inc. (which does business as The Santa Barbara Four Seasons Resort The Biltmore) who were furloughed and/or permanently terminated from their employment at the hotel on or after March 20, 2020.

The suit also looks to cover employees of Four Seasons Santa Barbara Employment, Inc. who have filed, or will file, demands in arbitration against Four Seasons for breach of contract and related claims as a result of their permanent layoffs from employment at the hotel on or after March 20, 2020.

Initially filed in Santa Barbara County, California Superior Court on January 26, the lawsuit was removed to the state’s Central District Court on March 21, 2022.

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