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Former Employees Sue American Idol Producer

March 20, 2009 08:00:21 by Paulene Hinds

Fremantle Media, the producer of American Idol and other reality TV shows,is being sued by three former employees who claim that they were made to work up to 20 hours a day, seven days a week without overtime pay and were alsodenied meal and rest breaks while they worked for the company. This denial goes against the California state law. The former employees include a music coordinator for American Idol, an associate producer for the reality-based TV series Janice Dickinson Modelling Agency, and a producer for the game show Temptation.

In legal papers filed in Los Angeles County Superior Court, the former employees further alleged that Fremantle engaged in a “fraudulent scheme” to conceal the hours they worked, forcing them to falsify their time cards by writing “worked” on them rather than record the actual hours worked, so that they would not be paid overtime.

The lawyer for the three former employees, Jonathan Biddle said, “There’s no Hollywood glamour for the below-the-line people who work on American Idol and other reality shows, who are grossly underpaid, worked 24/7 and receive no rest or meal breaks and no health coverage contrary to California labour laws.”

A spokesman for Fremantle North America said in an e-mail message that the company did not comment on pending litigation.

Reality television production companies have been the subject of similar complaintsin the pastas well as efforts by television unions, including the Writers Guild of America, West, to organize people who work in various producer categories. Often, the employees in those sectorsare not represented by a collective bargaining unit.

In January, three of the four major networks and several reality show production companies paid a $4 million settlement in two similar class actions suits. Those lawsuits also alleged that the companies, which produced shows like The Bachelor and Trading Spouses, violated wage and hour laws.

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Photos Courtesy: FOX

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Topics: American Idol, FOX Reality TV Shows |

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