Kim Kardashian is allegedly being sued by her maintenance staff members for not paying them fair wages or provide meal breaks.
via: Page Six
The multi-hyphenate is being sued by seven former members of the gardening and maintenance staff of her $60 million Hidden Hills mansion accusing her of a variety of shady boss-type behavior.
According to the suit, filed Monday in Los Angeles, the plaintiffs claim Kardashian, 40, was late with their pay, withheld 10 percent of their wages for taxes — and then didn’t forward those sums to the government — refused to pay them overtime, and sometimes forced them to work without meal breaks.
They claim they didn’t receive itemized pay stubs, and one 16-year-old ex-employee holds that he was made to work far past the 48 maximum allowable hours for an underage summer employee. Another claims that when he brought up overtime pay, the tax issue and meal breaks, he was immediately fired.
Andrew Ramirez, his brother Christopher Ramirez and son Andrew Ramirez Jr., along with Aron Cabrea, Rene Ernesto Flores, Jesse Fernandez and Robert Araiza are now suing for unpaid wages and the overtime they say she owes.
The men are being represented by Frank Kim of law firm Kim Legal, who is also repping one of Kardashian’s ex-husband Kanye West’s former employees in a similar lawsuit related to the rapper’s opera “Nebuchadnezzar.”
In a statement to the Daily Mail, which reported on the lawsuit Monday, he intimated that more may be forthcoming:
“Wage theft and other workplace violations are a widespread problem in Los Angeles. My firm is currently investigating other potential violations against these defendants, as well as other powerful families and businesses on behalf of everyday workers.”
Reached for comment by Page Six, a spokesperson for Kardashian gave the following statement: “These workers were hired and paid through a third-party vendor hired by Kim to provide ongoing services. Kim is not party to the agreement made between the vendor and their workers, therefore she is not responsible for how the vendor manages their business and the agreements they have made directly with their staff.
“Kim has never not paid a vendor for their services and hopes that the issue between these workers and the vendor who hired them can be amicably resolved soon.”
A source close to Kim added of the suit, “She does not have a history of not paying her bills on time — never has and never will. She takes a lot of pride in paying people on time for their work so this issue has nothing to do with her and these workers are suing the wrong person.
“The lawyer for the employees was very careful not to include Kim’s name in his statement,” they continue, “or directly mention any claims against her, because he knows these employees never worked directly for Kim, only through a third-party vendor.”
We will keep you updated as this continues to unfold.
