Of Janitors and Kings

Martha Escobar is staring into the cold, dark, unforgiving eyes of destitution. Ms. Escobar is one of 16 janitors who were laid off from their jobs at a luxury complex in Los Angeles that houses some of the wealthiest tenants imaginable. JPMorgan Asset Management, a unit of the vast JPMorgan Chase empire, manages an intricate investment web that owns the buildings. The layoffs were ordered by a maintenance contractor, ABM Industries. The Century Plaza Towers, which is part of the complex, crows on its Web site that it has “one of the most prestigious tenant rosters in the country, which includes some of America’s most prominent business leaders.” The janitors were required to keep things pristine for those prominent business leaders, who hardly ever noticed them.

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