A former employee of Lisa Vanderpump and her husband, Ken Todd, accused the couple of failing to pay their earned wages, Us Weekly can confirm.
Adam Pierce Antoine, who worked for the pair from September to December 2018, filed a lawsuit on December 16, 2019, along with other former employees of the restauranteurs, according to legal docs obtained by Us. They have alleged that Vanderpump, 59, and Todd, 62, were “not paying wages” “failing to pay minimum wages” or “providing meal breaks,” which the former staff members claimed is something that’s occurred for “at least four years prior to the filing.”
The complaint also alleged that employee’s time records were altered in an effort to fit within labor regulations set by California law. However, the couple’s staff would allegedly work shifts longer than 12 hours or more than 40 hours a week.
The class action is in regards to Vanderpump and Todd’s Los Angeles-area restaurants Pump, SUR, Villa Blanca and Tom Tom. A court date for the case is expected to occur on Friday, March 13.
News of the lawsuit came shortly after Vanderpump and Todd made headlines for another incident related to their businesses. On Sunday, January 5, a sports car crashed into their Pump restaurant, causing damage to the outdoor patio area and the exterior region of the hotspot. One person suffered minor injuries from the accident.
Video footage of the collision shows the front half of a luxury vehicle inside of the establishment surrounded by glass. Officials were also seen investigating the scene.
“A Porsche Turbo slammed through Pump at the intersection of Santa Monica Boulevard and Robertson in West Hollywood just after 2 p.m. Sunday — one girl [was] slightly injured and taken to the hospital with cuts,” Todd told E! News on Sunday.
Vanderpump addressed the matter via Instagram a day after the crash occurred. “No. We are not a Drive-Thru,” she captioned a couple photos of her restaurant after the accident on Monday, January 6. “Thank God no one was hurt.”
In July 2019, a source told Us Weekly that Vanderpump and Todd “have owned over 35 establishments in over three decades” and they have “more hot establishments in London than you could shake a stick at.” One of their newest additions includes a restaurant housed in Las Vegas’ Caesars Palace called Vanderpump Cocktail Garden.
“It’s such a compliment to be invited to open a restaurant at Caesars Palace, which is iconic, really. I mean, I grew up knowing about Caesars Palace,” the Real Housewives of Beverly Hills alum told Us in February 2019. “I remember when I first went there years and years ago, so to be asked to open a restaurant there, I’m so glad and I’m so excited to do so.”
She continued, “They know that every restaurant and location that we open is unique, and if you look at all our restaurants, every one has its own identity.”
