PRESS RELEASE: Lawsuit Filed Against Long Beach Yacht Club for Alleged Pregnancy-Based Harassment and Retaliation
Lawsuit alleges the Yacht Club’s executive chef surveilled pregnant employee’s bathroom breaks, publicly humiliated the expecting mother for requesting accommodations, and retaliated against her
Long Beach, Calif.: Julianne Perez filed a lawsuit against the Long Beach Yacht Club alleging that she endured sex-based harassment and retaliation while working at the private club. The lawsuit follows a complaint Ms. Perez filed with the California Civil Rights Department in April, in which she alleged that the Yacht Club failed to correct the retaliation and harassment Ms. Perez she allegedly endured during her two pregnancies between 2023 and 2025.
According to the lawsuit, the Yacht Club’s executive chef insulted Ms. Perez’s work ethic when she requested shorter shifts because of her pregnancy and questioned whether such accommodations were necessary. The executive chef allegedly mocked Ms. Perez in front of kitchen staff after she extended her maternity leave in 2024 because she was struggling with post-partum depression. The complaint also alleges that the executive chef timed Ms. Perez’s restroom breaks when she was pregnant and scolded her if he thought she took too long. He allegedly scolded her so often that at times she urinated herself instead of using the restroom just to avoid discipline.
The lawsuit further alleges that Ms. Perez and fellow employees, including a former manager, reported the executive chef’s harassment to the Yacht Club’s Human Resources department on multiple occasions, but failed to take proper corrective action. The executive chef remains employed at the Yacht Club.
Ms. Perez was scheduled to return from maternity leave on August 5, 2026. However, according to the lawsuit, the Yacht Club’s failure to end the executive chef’s harassment of Ms. Perez forced her to resign from her
position two days before her scheduled return.
“I am filing this lawsuit to hold the Long Beach Yacht Club accountable and to stand up for every woman who has faced harassment or mistreatment in the workplace, especially during pregnancy. No woman should ever have to choose between protecting herself and her unborn child and keeping her job. I’m speaking up not only for myself, but in the hope that no other woman at the Yacht Club will ever have to endure what I did. I want accountability, I want change, and I want women to know they deserve to feel safe, respected, and protected at work.”
The Long Beach Yacht Club is a private club located on public land. Workers at the club are currently negotiating a new collective bargaining agreement with UNITE HERE Local 11 to secure the protections and dignified working conditions all workers, including pregnant women, deserve.
Ms. Perez is represented by Lauren Teukolsky of Teukolsky Law and Jeremy Blasi of UNITE HERE Local 11.