Most Shocking Claims in the Mariah Carey-Nanny Lawsuit
Superstar's live-in nanny is suing for unpaid overtime wages.
— -- intro: Mariah Carey’s former live-in nanny slapped the world famous superstar and her estranged husband Nick Cannon with a lawsuit this week, claiming they owe her money for unpaid overtime.
Simonette DeCosta and her attorneys filed the suit in New York district court on Wednesday. According to the suit, DeCosta was the full-time nanny for Carey and Cannon's 3-year-old twins, Moroccan and Monroe, from October 2013 through her termination on Jan. 26, 2014. She was paid between $3,000 and $3,600 twice a month, the suit claims, and even traveled with Carey on international trips to take care of the children.
DeCosta is suing for “unpaid overtime wages, premium wages, liquidated damages,” and attorney fees. A representative for Mariah Carey told ABC News that they don’t comment on “frivolous lawsuits.”
Here are some of the most shocking claims laid out in the lawsuit:
quicklist:1title:DeCosta Claims She Was Fired for Being Too Affectionate With the Childrentext:“Ms. Carey terminated [DeCosta] after berating her for exhibiting too much affection towards her children,” the suit reads.
quicklist:2title:DeCosta Alleges She Worked a Lot of Overtime text:According to the suit, DeCosta “often worked well over 100 hours per week.” The suit claims she had to rotate between 24-hour shifts and 12-hour shifts each week, working seven days a week with 12-hour shifts and five days a week on 24-hour shifts.
However, she was not paid for “premium overtime compensation” for working over 40 hours each week, the suit claims.
quicklist:3title:DeCosta Claims She Wasn’t Allowed Breaks, Not Even for Sleeptext:When DeCosta was working a 24-hour shift, the suit claims that meant she was on-call the whole time, “with no entitlement for breaks for meals, and even sleep.”
quicklist:4title:Mariah Carey Would Allegedly Call With Demands at All Hourstext:“Ms. Carey would often call [DeCosta] at hours in the middle of the night and demand to be taken to her children, or to be updated as to the status of her children,” the suit claims. “Ms. Carey would not tolerate any delay. ... [DeCosta] was expected to be working.”