Lady Gaga sued for unpaid OT
January 10, 2012 by Christian SchappelPosted in: In this week's e-newsletter - benefits, Latest News & Views, Pay and benefits
A lot of employers are used to overtime pay, but we doubt many ask their employees to perform duties like these.
Lady Gaga, a.k.a. Stefani Germanotta, is being sued by her former personal assistant Jennifer O’Neill for $379,000 in unpaid overtime.
O’Neill claims she worked 7,168 hours of overtime performing tasks like:
- serving as a personal alarm clock
- providing towels after showers
- ensuring the availability of outfits
- ordering meals and ensuring they are served at proper times
- reviewing and reconciling credit card statements, and
- addressing spontaneous random matters in the middle of the night.
For being on call day 24/7 — as O’Neill’s suit claims she was required to be — she was paid an annual salary of $75,000. The suit also claims, O’Neill was not given breaks for meals or sleep.
O’Neill worked for Gaga in early 2009 and also from about February 2010 through March 2011. During that time O’Neill accompanied Gaga on the pop superstar’s Monster Ball world tour.
The lawsuit also seeks unspecified damages.
The New York Post is reporting a spokesperson for Gaga has labeled the suit “completely without merit.”
Tags: Jennifer O'Neill, Lady Gaga, lawsuit, ot, overtime, Stefani Germanotta
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January 12th, 2012 at 4:53 pm
This assistant should consider herself lucky to be making $75,000 a year considering her most difficult job tasks seem to be providing towels after showers and reviewing credit card statemnets. We obviously don’t have all the details, but I am guessing she won’t be seeing the $379,000 anytime soon.
January 13th, 2012 at 10:18 am
While I agree that the lawsuit seems silly considering the assistant’s duties, but the issue is more likely about “exempt v. non-exempt” jobs. Simply because someone has a cushiony job description or is a salaried worker, it doesn’t mean they cannot receive overtime pay. If she had to work over 40 hours per week (or 8 hours per day in some states), she is entitled to overtime pay.
January 16th, 2012 at 9:24 am
There can be an exemption for Executive Assistants, but this is not it.