Hotel worker, 88, sues to get her job back

The Memorial Day weekend storms of 2015 dumped 12 inches of rain on Houston, causing massive flooding, turning roads into rivers and swamping thousands of area homes. Like many area businesses, the Omni Houston Hotel on Riverway shut down temporarily.

Once the floodwaters receded and the 378-room luxury hotel reopened, employees were called back to work. Except for Lia Presta, then age 87, who worked about 32 hours a week in the hotel’s laundry department. When she asked her boss when she could return, Presta was told to just “rest,” according to a lawsuit filed recently in U.S. District Court in Houston.

Nearly two years late, Presta is still at home. She pleaded for her job, the lawsuit said. Her family intervened on her behalf. But she never was called back to work.

Presta is charging that Omni Hotels Management Corp. discriminated against her because of her age, according to the lawsuit. She also accuses Omni of disability discrimination, alleging that hotel officials assumed she was disabled and therefore unable to operate new machinery installed at the hotel. The lawsuit did not specify the type of machinery.

“She was (and still is) able and willing to work,” according to Presta’s lawsuit.

Omni Hotels would not comment on the lawsuit. The company has not yet filed a response

to the complaint in federal court.

Presta and her lawyer, Nitin Sud, declined to be interviewed.

Presta worked for the Omni Houston Hotel on Riverway for 35 years, mostly as a seamstress, but also in housekeeping and in the laundry department. But after the flood, Presta didn’t hear anything about returning to work at the upscale hotel that hosts banquets, business conferences and weddings.

Presta’s daughter called about her mother’s employment situation three months after the flooding and was told by Omni human resources that Presta was “on call,” according to court documents. Two months later, in November 2015, another human resources representative suggested that Presta should apply for unemployment benefits, even though Presta was not notified of any layoff, the lawsuit said.

Presta went to the Omni herself to ask about her job in February 2016. There, the human resources director allegedly said that new machinery installed by the hotel was too difficult for Presta to understand and suggested she apply for unemployment compensation benefits, according to the lawsuit. Presta did apply for the benefits.

Presta’s daughter contacted Omni human resources again in June to ask if there was any possibility her mother could return to work. She was told, the lawsuit said, that “Presta was not in any condition to work.”

Presta, now 88, is seeking back pay, compensation for mental anguish and emotional distress, and payment of attorneys fees, according to her lawsuit.

She also wants her job back.