Marciano Foundation Settles Lawsuit Over Layoffs

The Marciano Art Foundation in Los Angeles, which closed its doors last year in the midst of a labor dispute, has settled a lawsuit saying it broke the law by laying off 70 part-time employees, union officials said on Wednesday.

The dismissals came abruptly in November, after District Council 36 of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees filed a petition with the National Labor Relations Board seeking to represent docents and visitors services employees at the privately owned museum, which was opened in 2017 by two brothers who had co-founded the Guess jeans empire.

Soon after the layoffs, a former employee filed a lawsuit in California Superior Court in Los Angeles. The complaint asked for class certification and said that the foundation and the brothers, Paul and Maurice Marciano, had violated a law that requires certain employers to provide employees and government officials at least 60 days written notice before ordering a mass layoff.

A document provided by the plaintiffs in the case said the foundation had agreed to pay just over $205,000 to the 70 former employees and $70,000 in legal fees, a portion of those accrued. Each of the former workers is expected to receive about 10 weeks of pay, said Daniel B. Rojas, one of the lawyers who represented them.