Napa Winery Housekeeper of Nearly 30 Years Sues Chappellet for Disability and Racial Discrimination

Ana Maria Chavez Jimenez began working as a housekeeper at Chappellet — a prominent family estate on Pritchard Hill overlooking Lake Hennessey — in July 1995. For nearly three decades, she received consistently positive performance evaluations while cleaning the winery's facilities, offices, tasting rooms, and private residences.

In early 2024, Jimenez notified her supervisor that she was experiencing numbness in her hand and other physical limitations. She filed a workers' compensation report in February 2024 detailing injuries to her neck, head, back, left shoulder and arm, left wrist, and left hand. Her supervisor told her to work more slowly, but allegedly took no steps to modify or adjust her duties.

In August 2024, Jimenez was diagnosed with left shoulder tendinitis and her physician placed her on medical restrictions for three months — specifically, to avoid rotating her left shoulder and lifting objects. She provided this documentation to Chappellet's human resources department.

According to the lawsuit, rather than engaging in the good-faith interactive process required by California law, the winery's HR director presented Jimenez with an ultimatum: perform all duties without accommodations, take unpaid leave, or resign. He also allegedly gave her a letter accusing her of "attempting to manipulate situations to avoid fulfilling her work obligations." Two months later, her position was eliminated — with the winery citing "budget cuts."

The case also raises serious concerns about language access. Jimenez, whose primary language is Spanish, requested an interpreter for her meetings with human resources and was denied. The lawsuit alleges that the HR director had previously made comments suggesting that everyone should speak and learn English, and that he had denied translation requests from multiple Spanish-speaking employees.

The case has drawn attention to broader patterns in Napa County's wine industry, where a significant portion of the workforce is Latino. It raises important questions about employer obligations under California's Fair Employment and Housing Act (FEHA) — including the duty to provide reasonable accommodations for work-related injuries and to ensure meaningful communication for employees with limited English proficiency.