Kim Kardashian has been sued by a group of former gardeners and maintenance staff who say she failed to properly pay wages, refused to cough up for overtime and would not allow them to take meal breaks.
Court papers filed in Los Angeles on Monday and seen by DailyMail.com detail a laundry list of complaints about the working conditions at the star’s $60m Hidden Hills home.
The seven ex-employees also say they were never paid on time and claim they had 10 per cent of their wages docked for tax – which she then failed to hand over to the authorities.
None of them received pay stubs or itemized wages, and all say that Kim failed to keep track of the hours they worked or cough up for overtime.
A group of former gardeners and maintenance staff are suing Kim Kardashian, DailyMail.com can reveal. The seven ex-employees say they were never paid on time and claim they had 10 per cent of their wages docked for tax
Court papers filed in Los Angeles on Monday detail a laundry list of complaints about the working conditions at the star’s $60million Hidden Hills home
One complainant, who is just 16, says he was made to work hours well in excess of the maximum 48 hours a week allowed when school is not in session.
And when one of the gardeners approached Kim to ask about overtime, taxes and rest breaks, he claims he was fired on the spot.
DailyMail.com can reveal that Kanye West, like his estranged wife, is also facing lawsuits over bad labor practices, including suits from a former Yeezy employee and another from a back-up singer who performed in West’s opera Nebuchadnezzar
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 the 40-year-old for all of the unpaid wages and overtime they say she owes.
Mom-of-four Kim is worth an estimated $1billion thanks to her cosmetics and clothing businesses, as well as product endorsements and her income from Keeping Up With The Kardashians.
Skims, a shapewear line, was launched at the end of 2018 while KKW Beauty, unveiled in 2017, brought her a $200million windfall last year when she sold a 20 per cent stake in the business to beauty giant Coty.
Lawyer Frank Kim of law firm Kim Legal, who is bringing the case against Kim, said: ‘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.’
Kim has previously boasted of treating her staff well – including during an argument with sister Kourtney over nannies shown during an episode of Keeping Up With The Kardashians last week.
During the fight, Kim laid into Kourtney and accused her of ‘degrading’ one of her nannies in front of the children.
Although Kourtney denied it, she went on to tell Kim the unnamed nanny ‘would never work’ for her, adding: ‘Keep her. She will not ever be around my kids.’
In response, Kim told her sister she likes the nanny and wants ‘to keep my staff for a long time, so that’s how I feel’ and saying: ‘Kourtney, you can’t even keep a nanny’.
DailyMail.com obtained the court documents filed today in LA. When one of the gardeners approached Kim to ask about overtime, taxes and rest breaks, he claims he was fired on the spot
The lawsuits against Kanye (picture) include similar complaints to the case against Kim, including allegations of failing to pay wages, misclassifying employees as independent contractors and refusing to allow meal and rest breaks
A representative for Kim told DailyMail.com that the staff behind the lawsuit had not been hired by the reality star directly, but through a third party.
‘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.’
The new lawsuit comes less than four months after Kim filed for divorce from estranged husband Kanye West, 43, on February 19.
In the documents, both Kim and West agreed to joint custody of their four children – North, Saint, Chicago and Psalm – and both said they would not request spousal support.
DailyMail.com can reveal that West, like his estranged wife, is also facing lawsuits over bad labor practices, including suits from a former Yeezy employee and another from a back-up singer who performed in West’s opera Nebuchadnezzar.
Both are being handled by Frank Kim and include similar complaints to the case against Kim, including allegations of failing to pay wages, misclassifying employees as independent contractors and refusing to allow meal and rest breaks.
The first, which was filed on March 29 by Kim Legal, details how back-up singer Michael Pearson was hired for two days to perform in West’s much-criticized Nebuchadnezzar opera which was shown over two days at the Hollywood Bowl on November 23 and 24 2019.
The new lawsuit comes less than four months after Kim filed for divorce from estranged husband Kanye West, 43, on February 19. In the documents, both Kim and West agreed to joint custody of their four children – North, Saint, Chicago and Psalm – and both said they would not request spousal support
Kim previously boasted of treating her staff well – including during an argument with sister Kourtney over nannies shown during an episode of KUWTK last week
Pearson says he and other performers were paid a flat rate of $250 a day but worked hours well in excess of the standard eight-hour working day and were not given overtime pay.
He also said West failed to provide enough seats in the staging area, leaving performers to stand or sit on the ground, and refused to allow meal breaks.
Similar complaints were made in a second case, also filed by Kim Legal on May 6, by a former Yeezy assistant designer.
Taliah Leslie, who worked for West as an assistant designer to his team of pattern cutters, says the rapper classified her as an independent contractor, even though she was hired on an hourly rate as a full-time employee.
She also claims she had to work in excess of five or 10 hours a day without meal breaks due to a Yeezy policy of having all staff take their lunch at the same time.
Leslie also says she is owed overtime and was not provided with itemized wage statements. She also claims West refused to pay some of her wages after she quit.