A powerful US music executive who once managed some of the industry’s top acts – including Christina Aguilera and Bon Jovi – is being sued by his former housekeeper for unpaid wages.
Irving Azoff and his wife Shelli allegedly failed to pay their former housekeeper for overtime, missed meal periods and rest breaks during her decade working for the wealthy couple, Page Six reports.
According to a lawsuit filed in the Los Angeles Superior Court on September 6, Gloria Martinez claims she was supposed to be paid $1,500 per week salary, but instead received a rate that “varied in amount” from week to week.
Martinez, who alleges that she worked for the Azoffs from 2008 to 2017 and then again from August 2021 to March 2022, also claims she was discriminated against because of her physical disabilities and was “wrongfully terminated” because of accommodations that arose due to her medical issues.
Her employment was terminated on March 9 this year after Martinez missed work in late February to undergo a biopsy, for which she provided a medical note.
“Defendants’ termination of Martinez’s employment was done with malice and oppression,” the housekeeper’s lawyers state in the lawsuit. “Defendants’ conduct was intended to retaliate against Martinez for having exercised her right to request reasonable accommodations due to her disability. This constitutes unlawful discrimination and retaliatory discharge in violation of California law.”
Azoff has held leadership positions in companies like Ticketmaster, Live Nation Entertainment and IMG, and has a client list including The Eagles, Van Halen, Chelsea Handler and Fleetwood Mac.
With an estimated net worth of around USD $400 million, Azoff and his wife own several multi-million dollar mansions from Beverly Hills to Cabo San Lucas.
He was last year named one of Variety‘s Top 500 Business Leaders, and profiled in the Los Angeles Times in 2020 after being inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
Azoff’s representatives have not yet responded to the claims. Martinez wants the case to go to trial.