A former program manager of the La Palma Tiny Tots program has sued the City of La Palma for at least $40,000 in unpaid wages, plus unspecified liquidated damages.
According to a lawsuit filed in Superior Court by the law firm of Gonzalez, Weerasuriya, APC, Misty Torres was employed by La Palma from 2018 to 2025, during which they allege the city shortchanged the former part-time employee.
“This is a wage-and-hour action arising from defendant City of La Palma’s failure to pay Ms. Torres for all hours worked, failure to provide compliant meal periods and rest breaks, failure to issue accurate wage statements, and failure to pay all wages due at separation,” the lawsuit contends.
Attorneys for Torres detail the work history in their “complaint for monetary damages” filed in Orange County Superior Court on April 8.
According to the complaint, “Ms. Torres regularly performed three additional hours of unpaid work,” and “worked through meal periods while continuing to supervise children (Tiny Tots program) or prepare materials. Because Defendant often provided no meaningful coverage, Ms. Torres also did not receive compliant rest breaks.”
“In or around mid-2024, Defendant formally capped Ms. Torres’s hours at 30 hours per week, or 60 hours per pay period, while leaving the same workload in place,” the suit contends.
“Defendant later limited her to only 20 hours per week during certain school-break periods,” it claims, “thereby creating a predictable and unlawful result: Ms. Torres either had to leave essential work undone or complete that work off the clock.”
“Instead of paying Ms. Torres for all hours worked, Defendant told her not to do the work while still expecting the work to be completed. In or around June 2024, Defendant told Ms. Torres to leave work, or she could be fired because she had no available hours,” attorneys claim in the suit.
“On or about July 16, 2024, Defendant informed Ms. Torres by email that she could not exceed 30 hours per week, or 60 hours per pay period. Ms. Torres immediately responded that the limitation made it difficult to complete all work required for class because approximately 20 hours were consumed by class time alone,” it said.
Then, on August 5, 2024, Defendant told Ms. Torres “that her hours were fixed and non-negotiable.
Defendant also told Ms. Torres on or about August 5, 2024, that she could no longer perform work from home, even though Defendant had previously allowed her to do so and even though the workload still required preparation and administrative work outside class time.
Attorneys for Torres have asked the court to award a jury trial and to grant monetary relief of $40,000 pursuant to the Labor Code, unpaid overtime wages of more than $50k, unpaid meal premiums of approximately $20k, unpaid rest breaks of $20k, and statutory penalties of more than $10,000.
In addition, Torres is asking for “restitution of all unpaid wages withheld, and injunctive relief permitted by law.
“Torres further seeks all other relief permitted by law, including attorney fees, costs, interest, and other and further relief as the court deems just and proper,” according to the lawsuit.
Parents lined up at the City Council meeting in La Palma in early 2025 to protest the city’s treatment and dismissal of Torres from the Tiny Tots program.
“I may be one person, but I’m speaking on behalf of many families,” said Chloe Janoian before the Council. “Miss Misty has been the heart of the Tiny Tots program for nearly a decade. She transformed it from a simple drop-off service into a true preschool prep experience,” she said, lamenting Torres’ exit from the program.
The ENE has reached out to the city for comment. According to the timing of the lawsuit, most of this occurred under former City Manager Conal McNamara’s watch. Peter Kim, the current City Manager, responded to say the city does not comment on active litigation.
In December, a Superior Court Jury found the city of La Palma liable for $8.4 million in damages to a former police officer in a rare case of reverse discrimination. The city has appealed.