Mariah Carey's Former Assistant Sues for More Than 4,000 Hours of Overtime Pay, It has not been a good year for Mariah Carey. There was the long-awaited album which became the lowest selling release of her career. Then there was the separation. And the much publicized on-stage snafus. And now, another lawsuit. This time, it's Carey's former assistant claiming she is owed seven years' worth of back wages.
In a suit filed Thursday in Manhattan federal court, Carey's former assistant, Ylser Oliver, claims she was forced to work 16-hour days for six or seven days a week and never received any overtime pay. In the suit, which Oliver's lawyer Matthew Blit provided to The Insider With Yahoo, Oliver requests Carey pay her back wages as well as her attorney's fees. According to the suit, Oliver's responsibilites as Mariah Carey's assistant included cleaning and organizing Carey's apartment in Manhattan, packing her suitcases, and traveling with her during tours and vacations.
So just how much is Oliver claiming she's owed? The suit does not name a specific number, nor does it state what Oliver was paid while in Carey's employ. But Oliver worked for Carey from March 2007 to June 2014. It claims her average workday was between 10 and 16 hours long and that she frequently worked up to seven days a week. So a conservative estimate concludes that Oliver is seeking at least 4,224 hours of overtime pay. Now that's a serious Christmas bonus.
"My client put her family's life on hold while tending to Mariah Carey's family, and Mariah repaid her by underpaying her," Bilt told Page Six of the suit.
It's not the only lawsuit pop music's number one diva has been involved in this year. A photographer who claims he was commissioned to shoot Carey's album cover is suing her record label, saying the shoot was abruptly canceled for no reason. According to a report by TMZ, the suit alleges it takes $85,000 just to get Mariah Carey camera-ready.
Carey has not responded to either suit and Yahoo's request for comment went unanswered.
But, hey, at least "All I Want For Christmas Is You" is charting on both the Holiday 100 and the Hot 100 again.
