April 2014 Newsletter
This month we wanted to tell you about how the pop icon known as “Lady Gaga” became familiar with the Fair Labor Standards Act.
Last year Lady Gaga was sued by her personal assistant for uncompensated overtime, for which her assistant claimed to be owed almost $400,000 in back pay, along with liquidated damages, and attorneys’ fees.
Gaga for Overtime?
Gaga’s personal assistant, Jennifer O’Neill, sued Gaga’s company for FLSA violations. O’Neill was told she would receive a $75,000 annual salary, but nothing was said about overtime wages.
According to O’Neill, during her 56 weeks of employment she worked over 7,000 hours of uncompensated overtime, for which she was owed almost $400,000 in back pay.
O’Neill claimed to be continuously on call to attend to any and all of Gaga’s needs, even stating that Gaga would wake her during the night to take out a DVD and replace it with another!
Last September a New York court denied Gaga’s motion to dismiss O’Neill’s claim. The court explained that if the employer restricts an employee’s ability to use his or her time freely then on call time can constitute work, and is therefore compensable under the FLSA.
Lady Gaga performs as an entertainer for a living, but she also proved to be rather entertaining during her deposition as well (although I doubt her lawyer found her responses entertaining). The New York Post reported many excerpts from the star’s deposition, but here are a few I found the most entertaining.
Gaga stated that O’Neill “knew exactly what she was getting into, and she knew there was no overtime.” She then went on to state that the decision not to pay overtime was not based on the law but was “actually based on a bubbly, good heart.”
Gaga then acted like a Monster (one of her major hits) when she called O’Neill a “f***ing hood rat who is suing me for money that she didn’t earn.” Adding “and I am completely aghast to what a disgusting human being that you have become to sue me like this.”
Unfortunately we will not be able to hear any additional quotes from Lady Gaga concerning her former employee because the two parties settled in October for a confidential amount (if you would like to read more quotes from Lady Gaga's deposition you can read the NY Post article here). While the case may have gone away, there is a lot we can all take away from the events that took place.
Takeaways
1. It doesn’t matter how much someone earns in a year, or if you try to contract out of it, you have to look at the functions of each particular job to determine if someone is exempt from overtime pay or not.
2. Overtime wages rack up quickly when you mistakenly treat an employee as exempt from the FLSA.
3. Any employee who is required to stay on call is in fact working while on call.
4. If you are ever in a deposition do not lose your cool. Calling former employee’s names, like “hood rat,” or stating that you didn’t base your decision off of the law is never a good idea!
Human Resource Solutions will be glad to answer any questions you may have regarding this, or any other, employment issue you are having. Contact Us!
Last year Lady Gaga was sued by her personal assistant for uncompensated overtime, for which her assistant claimed to be owed almost $400,000 in back pay, along with liquidated damages, and attorneys’ fees.
Gaga for Overtime?
Gaga’s personal assistant, Jennifer O’Neill, sued Gaga’s company for FLSA violations. O’Neill was told she would receive a $75,000 annual salary, but nothing was said about overtime wages.
According to O’Neill, during her 56 weeks of employment she worked over 7,000 hours of uncompensated overtime, for which she was owed almost $400,000 in back pay.
O’Neill claimed to be continuously on call to attend to any and all of Gaga’s needs, even stating that Gaga would wake her during the night to take out a DVD and replace it with another!
Last September a New York court denied Gaga’s motion to dismiss O’Neill’s claim. The court explained that if the employer restricts an employee’s ability to use his or her time freely then on call time can constitute work, and is therefore compensable under the FLSA.
Lady Gaga performs as an entertainer for a living, but she also proved to be rather entertaining during her deposition as well (although I doubt her lawyer found her responses entertaining). The New York Post reported many excerpts from the star’s deposition, but here are a few I found the most entertaining.
Gaga stated that O’Neill “knew exactly what she was getting into, and she knew there was no overtime.” She then went on to state that the decision not to pay overtime was not based on the law but was “actually based on a bubbly, good heart.”
Gaga then acted like a Monster (one of her major hits) when she called O’Neill a “f***ing hood rat who is suing me for money that she didn’t earn.” Adding “and I am completely aghast to what a disgusting human being that you have become to sue me like this.”
Unfortunately we will not be able to hear any additional quotes from Lady Gaga concerning her former employee because the two parties settled in October for a confidential amount (if you would like to read more quotes from Lady Gaga's deposition you can read the NY Post article here). While the case may have gone away, there is a lot we can all take away from the events that took place.
Takeaways
1. It doesn’t matter how much someone earns in a year, or if you try to contract out of it, you have to look at the functions of each particular job to determine if someone is exempt from overtime pay or not.
- Even if someone was making one million dollars a year, if their job was to be a typical assistant they would qualify for overtime pay.
2. Overtime wages rack up quickly when you mistakenly treat an employee as exempt from the FLSA.
3. Any employee who is required to stay on call is in fact working while on call.
4. If you are ever in a deposition do not lose your cool. Calling former employee’s names, like “hood rat,” or stating that you didn’t base your decision off of the law is never a good idea!
Human Resource Solutions will be glad to answer any questions you may have regarding this, or any other, employment issue you are having. Contact Us!
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