‘Lady Gaga owes me overtime,’ former assistant claims
Overtime issues affect employers of all stripes – as Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta (a.k.a., Lady Gaga) recently found out.
Jennifer O’Neill, a former assistant to Lady Gaga, is suing the pop phenomenon for allegedly failing to cough up some $380,000 in OT payments to her.
O’Neil worked full-time for the singer for a fixed annual salary of $75,000 and alleges she was required to be available “24/7.” The former assistant claims that under the federal Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) and state law, she’s entitled to overtime compensation for working such extreme hours.
Normally, in overtime lawsuits involving assistants, employers will claim the assistant is exempt from OT under the “administrative exemption” under the FLSA. However, the employer must also be able to prove the assistant exercises “significant independent discretion and judgment.”
Some of the job duties that O’Neill described performing for Gaga included:
- reviewing credit card statements
- checking Gaga’s meals
- “ensuring the promptness of a towel following a shower,” and
- serving “as a personal alarm clock.”
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