Long Beach Yacht Club’s executive chef allegedly mocked employee Julianne Perez for extending her maternity leave, an accommodation Ms. Perez requested because she suffered depression postpartum

Julianne Perez and Vanessa Wainer filed complaints with the California Civil Rights Department for the alleged sex-based harassment the two mothers endured while working at the Long Beach Yacht Club. Both allege that the private club failed to respond appropriately to repeated complaints of sex-based harassment, specifically against pregnant women, that took place over the course of multiple years at the private club.

“I do not want anyone else at the Yacht Club, especially other women and expecting mothers, to experience what I’ve been through,” said Ms. Perez who was harassed throughout both her pregnancies by her supervisor, the Yacht Club’s executive chef. In her complaint, Ms. Perez alleges that the executive chef’s harassment across two pregnancies caused her to suffer anxiety attacks, stomach pains, and nightmares. Ms. Perez at times urinated on herself to avoid upsetting the executive chef who allegedly timed her restroom breaks when she was pregnant. The stress and fear Ms. Perez endured during her second pregnancy, her complaint alleges, caused her to fear for her baby’s wellbeing and drove her to start her maternity leave two months early.

Ms. Wainer, a former manager at the Yacht Club, also filed a complaint for the alleged sex-based harassment she endured throughout her time at the private club. According to the complaint, the executive chef told Ms. Wainer during work hours that “he hates women” and “viewed all women as money hungry liars.” On a different occasion, the complaint alleges that the executive chef told employees in the Yacht Club’s kitchen that, “[w]omen get pregnant because they are lazy and do not want to work.” Ms. Wainer allegedly overheard this comment as she was taking out trash about eight months into her pregnancy.

“The executive chef’s consistent abuse of women, including me, without appropriate consequences created an atmosphere of fear that made working at the Yacht Club a miserable experience,” said Ms. Wainer who left the Yacht Club in late 2025 because of the stress and fear she felt going to work.

The Long Beach Yacht Club is a private club located on public land. Workers at the club are negotiating for a new collective bargaining agreement with UNITE HERE Local 11 to secure the protections and dignified working conditions all workers, including pregnant women, deserve.

UNITE HERE Local 11 is a labor union representing more than 32,000 hospitality workers in Southern California and Arizona that work in hotels, restaurants, universities, convention centers and airports.

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