'Gangnam Style' Lifeguards Were Already on Thin Ice in El Monte; Rehiring Seems Unlikely

By Dennis Romero Tue., Sep. 18 2012 at 12:48 PM

RoaBoat / YouTube

Hey sexy (unemployed) ladies.

The 13 lifeguards and one pool manager fired over making a "Gangnam Style" spoof at El Monte City Aquatic Center want their jobs back, and they're headed to the City Council tonight to plead their case: The YouTube video with nearly 1.5 million views was made on their free time.

But it's not so simple. The Weekly has learned that the lifeguards were already in hot water, and the video was just the last nail in their coffin:

El Monte spokesman Robert Alaniz told us that this group of lifeguards had been warned twice previously about other issues, beginning in early 2012, and that they had been told in June to read and sign an employee handbook that lays down the rules:

They were brought in as a group and made to review the employee handbook.

The video was made and uploaded in August. Alaniz:

There were additional issues leading up to the termination, which we can't discuss. It culminated with the video.

Are these bad little boys and girls?

Alaniz made it sound like this bikini bunch didn't have much of a chance, but that would ultimately be up to the City Council.

The group plans to use the council's open comment period to bring its case to the body, but a councilmember would have to put an item on the agenda to bring it to a formal vote. And that seems unlikely:

The council already held a special session Friday to get the facts of the matter.

We were made to understand that the firings were made collectively, after the video was reviewed and "city resources and uniforms" were spotted on-tape, by interim city manager Dayle Keller, human resources director Amelia Ayala and the aquatics director.

If a vote was made, it would be in "closed session," away from the public, because it's a personnel matter.

The city has one large aquatics facility, and the lifeguards were part-time and seasonal, with many expressing plans to leave when college starts in fall, Alaniz said. The season ended in August.

Psy, the South Korean pop star behind the hit "Gangnam Style," has asked that the guards be given their jobs back, and they have started a petition drive on Change.org that has added up to nearly 13,000 supporters so far.

The lifeguards and supporters plan to attend tonight's council meeting, stating on Facebook that ...

... We welcome everyone to come join us at the next city council meeting where former lifeguards and members of the community will be speaking during "public comments." Each individual can speak for a maximum of 3 minutes.

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

Tags:

El Monte, Gangnam Style, lifeguards, Psy, video

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loveincsgv

Thank you for writing this article. I read it and was shocked that the city would put out a lie like this. I brought it to the City Council last night and gave the Mayor and the City council a copy and told them this was a lie. My daughter has never been written up nor reprimanded in the 6 years she has worked there and has had mulitple parents give compliments for her work. Also Micheal Roa has never been written up nor reprimanded in the 7 years he has worked there. He was lifeguards of the year and employee of the year. I read it to the group of lifeguarfd only to get an audible gasp from the group in total disbelief that the city would stoop to this! This group also has the rookie of the year and the instructor of the year ...who have never been reprimanded. Unless these women are the best forgers in the world they have nothing...they should be fired for lying and when this was brought up in the Council meeting along with an exlifeguard letting the Council know that this management allowed alcohol at a private swim party making the lifeguards on duty very nervous the management left the meeting very quickly! I have asked the mayor to address the deffamation of character that has been done against my daughter and the other lifeguards by HIS representative and he said he will have the City Manager check into this. I will not let this die and want to have answer on how they will fix this assassination of character that has happened to them. This will be brought up again at the town hall meeting tomorrow night and at every City Council Meeting after until I get the appropriate response!

Also it was said "They were brought in as a group and made to review the employee handbook" They meaning lifeguards. This also is a lie...they were not brought in as a group of lifeguards but were in a meeting of all the Parks and Recreation Employees.The way it was implied was that "they", this group of lifeguards, were brought in a reprimanded. The El Monte Parks and Recreation employee along with the Aquatic Center were told they needed to atend this meeting. As they were every year!

porovaara

1 Like

Sounds like someone was just not happy with a group of people, power tripping and looking for an excuse to get rid of them. This video could have been a huge potential boon to the local community, but instead it has been ruined by some one who is just too stuck in their ways to understand the changing world.