In2HiDef
05-25-2012, 10:28 PM
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/05/23/sharon-stone-sued-former-nanny_n_1541108.html
Actress Sharon Stone is the target of a lawsuit from a former live-in nanny alleging derogatory slurs, false accusations of stealing and termination without cause.
The complaint, filed in Los Angeles Superior Court Wednesday, alleges that in 2010, Stone began subjecting Erlinda Elemen to slurs about her Filipino heritage, accent, food and Christian religion. The lawsuit also says that Stone requested Elemen stop talking to the children so that they wouldn't "talk like you."
Stone is also accused of ridiculing Elemen for attending church, and once forbidding her from reading the Bible in the actress' home.
The lawsuit alleges that things got worse for Elemen in January 2011. Stone paid her overtime for working during holidays and traveling, but the complaint says she later accused the nanny of "stealing" by accepting the overtime pay. After Elemen complained and refused to return the pay, Stone began reducing her hours and berating her in front of other staff. By the next month, Elemen was fired for no reason, the lawsuit says.
Elemen, a Filipino immigrant and U.S. legal resident, began working for the actress in 2006. She was promoted to head nanny of Stone's household in 2008, which means Elemen became a live-in caretaker for all three of Stone's children and traveled with them when necessary.
Elemen is represented by Los Angeles attorney Solomon Gresen. "Because abuses in overtime pay are common for household employees, it seems ironic that Ms. Stone initially did the right thing and paid Mrs. Elemen overtime wages, and then terminated her for accepting those same wages," said Gresen in a statement announcing the lawsuit.
Speaking through her lawyer, Elemen, 52, told The Huffington Post that she came to the U.S. in 1998 and has worked in child care since. While employed by Stone, she helped support her two children and two grandchildren in Singapore and the Philippines. After being terminated by the actress, Elemen was only able to find sporadic work and has been unable to send money to her family.
Actress Sharon Stone is the target of a lawsuit from a former live-in nanny alleging derogatory slurs, false accusations of stealing and termination without cause.
The complaint, filed in Los Angeles Superior Court Wednesday, alleges that in 2010, Stone began subjecting Erlinda Elemen to slurs about her Filipino heritage, accent, food and Christian religion. The lawsuit also says that Stone requested Elemen stop talking to the children so that they wouldn't "talk like you."
Stone is also accused of ridiculing Elemen for attending church, and once forbidding her from reading the Bible in the actress' home.
The lawsuit alleges that things got worse for Elemen in January 2011. Stone paid her overtime for working during holidays and traveling, but the complaint says she later accused the nanny of "stealing" by accepting the overtime pay. After Elemen complained and refused to return the pay, Stone began reducing her hours and berating her in front of other staff. By the next month, Elemen was fired for no reason, the lawsuit says.
Elemen, a Filipino immigrant and U.S. legal resident, began working for the actress in 2006. She was promoted to head nanny of Stone's household in 2008, which means Elemen became a live-in caretaker for all three of Stone's children and traveled with them when necessary.
Elemen is represented by Los Angeles attorney Solomon Gresen. "Because abuses in overtime pay are common for household employees, it seems ironic that Ms. Stone initially did the right thing and paid Mrs. Elemen overtime wages, and then terminated her for accepting those same wages," said Gresen in a statement announcing the lawsuit.
Speaking through her lawyer, Elemen, 52, told The Huffington Post that she came to the U.S. in 1998 and has worked in child care since. While employed by Stone, she helped support her two children and two grandchildren in Singapore and the Philippines. After being terminated by the actress, Elemen was only able to find sporadic work and has been unable to send money to her family.