The Ivy Restaurant Sued by HIV-Positive Worker Reymundo Martinez

By Dennis Romero Thu., Mar. 29 2012 at 1:08 PM

The Ivy.

Updated at the bottom with a response from owner Richard Irving. First posted at 12:21 p.m.

Celebrity restaurant The Ivy was sued today for allegedly firing a busboy because he's HIV positive.

The Mexican American Legal Defense Fund announced the suit today, saying that the worker was terminated in violation of the state Fair Employment and Housing Act, which prohibits letting someone go because of a medical condition.

According to the suit:

The plaintiff, Reymudo Martinez, worked at the Robertson Boulevard hot-spot for five months before he was diagnosed with HIV in December in 2010.

In January, after he had a hard time working a shift as a result of side effects from his medication, and after his doctor requested a shift change to better accommodate his situation, the man was fired, MALDEF claims.

An employee at The Ivy today told the Weekly that version of events "is not true." A message was left for management for a more official response.

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The suit (PDF) claims that his termination letter was the first time Martinez received negative feedback at work.

MALDEF president Thomas A. Saenz:

The Latino workforce is the backbone of many critical industries in California, including the restaurant industry. Latino workers deserve protection, like anyone else, from discrimination based on bias against health condition or based on any other irrational bias.

The Ivy is known for its outdoor patio and paparazzi camped out front. The West Hollywood-adjacent eatery has been a regular destination for the likes of Lindsay Lohan, people named Hilton, Rob Lowe, and entire Hollywood agencies.

[Update at 1:08 p.m.]: Ivy owner Richard Irving responded quickly, telling the Weekly that the restaurant did not know about Martinez's status when he was fired for simply, he argued, being a bad worker.

He said that the average worker at The Ivy has spent about 15 years at the restaurant and that some employees have been there for 30. Martinez was virtually on probation as a new busser and simply didn't make the cut after about 5 months, he said:

We had a lot of complaints from his fellow workers that he wasn't pulling his weight. We don't enjoy letting people go, and we try to give them the benefit of the doubt. We didn't act immediately. We tried to get him trained and tried to help him and gave him time. But he never caught on, and he was never good.

As far as Martinez's HIV status, Irving says, "We didn't know any of that. We became aware of it after."

[@dennisjromero / djromero@laweekly.com / @LAWeeklyNews]

Tags:

AIDS, celebrities, discrimination, HIV, Latinos, lawsuit, MALDEF, restaurant, The Ivy

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speakeasy8

I used to work for a public assistance program and there were a number of times that recipients who were HIV positive work as cooks, waiters, salad servers. I do not have anything against people wih HIV or AIDS, but these type of jobs done by people afflicted with HIV or AIDS is a real threat to the non HIV or AIDS public or customers. One time my friends and I went to a steakhouse with a salad bar, the salad attendant kepts coughing, sure enough the next day we were all sick with diarrhea, stomach flu. I told them I was suspicious of the coughing salad attendant.

Nilson

I use to work at the Ivy and I was let go because i was a threat to there wicked ways of running things this blog is inspiring me to come out with my story at the ivy

Donon6

i'm gay. my partner is HIV+. we are active in demonstrating for civil rights and standing up for those who are oppressed but I DO NOT support the protests against the Ivy. If they were protesting the prices I could get on board perhaps, but not over something like this. In my 20 years of working in Human Resources, I've learned that - in California - anyone can sue anyone for any reason, whether they even have a case or not. More than a few times, I've seen companies settle claims just to make them go away and people who were working the system and lying for their own gain walked away with money just to shut up and cease their legalized extortion plot. This type of behavior is damaging to movements and causes that are worthwhile, including REAL cases where people are fired for their HIV status. I don't doubt this busboy is HIV+. I don't doubt he was fired. However, until someone other than him is able to definitively PROVE that his HIV status was the reason the restaurant fired him and not because - as the owner has stated - he was a bad worker who was under probation, I will believe the restaurant management and it sickens me that people will try to bring down the livelihood of others over rumor and unfounded speculation. It is silly and foolish that HIV activists and others are jumping on a band wagon that lacks wheels to roll and I'm so outraged by their ignorance that I'll probably lunch at the Ivy today - for only the second time in my 26 years of living in LA.