‘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.”
- Share on
Free Training & Resources
Webinars
Provided by Yooz
Further Reading
At first glance, Trump Accounts look like a low-cost win: tax-free, $2,500 per employee, good optics. But heads up — the fine print i...
The IRS summarized several tax provisions of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA) in the 2026 version of Publication 15. Publication 1...
The Department of Labor’s independent contractor (IC) rule that went into effect on March 11 is forcing many businesses to triple-che...
IRS has given employers two extra years to implement a Secure 2.0 Act provision that’s bringing tax changes for certain retirement pl...
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ban on non-compete agreements won’t go into effect in early September and is doubtful to become th...
Time to update your systems: SSA has announced the 2026 Social Security taxable wage base. Next year’s number will increase to $184,50...
