Music Exec Irving Azoff & His Wife Sued By Ex-Housekeeper Who Claims She Was Burned With A Cigarette And Forced To Clean Adult Toy After Complaining About Pay
Feb. 1 2023, Published 2:02 a.m. ET
Music exec Irving Azoff and his wife Rochelle 'Shelli' Azoff have been hit with a bombshell new lawsuit by a former housekeeper who claims she was forced to endure sexual assault after complaining about not being paid overtime, RadarOnline.com has learned.
According to court documents obtained by RadarOnline.com, Rosa Martinez and Juliana Martinez Garcia have filed a lawsuit in Los Angeles Superior Court.
Rosa is suing for assault and battery, sexual battery, sexual harassment, retaliation, and wrongful termination.
“Martinez and Garcia bring this lawsuit to vindicate their rights against a powerful Hollywood couple and to put an end to their abusive practices towards domestic workers,” the suit read. Martinez accused Rochelle of subjecting her to “cruel and sadistic forms of sexual harassment and sexual assault that was unwelcome and persuasive, which escalated in their frequency and severity in retaliation for her complaints of unpaid overtime and abuse.”
Martinez said she started working as a live-in housekeeper for Rochelle and Irving in January 2022. She took care of cleaning the property, recording housekeeping expenses, setting the table and serving food, caring for the dogs, running errands and assisting Rochelle with various tasks.
In the lawsuit, she said she worked “far more than the eight-hour workday that she had agreed.” In addition, she claims to have frequently missed meals and rest breaks. Martinez said she complained in April about not being paid overtime which led to retaliation from Rochelle that included “cruel and intimidating behavior, often sexual in nature, in order to humiliate and degrade” Martinez “and force her into submissive obedience.”
Martinez said Rochelle “routinely” spanked her “buttocks with an open palm” and “violently pinched” her cheeks, “causing her eyes to tear.”
“On at least one occasion, Rochelle Azoff pinched” Martinez's “cheek while warning her not to complain about unpaid wages on behalf of herself and the other housekeepers,” the suit alleged.
In addition, Martinez claimed Rochelle “also summoned” her on multiple occasions and “completely undressed herself in front” of the housekeeper “for no apparent reason other than to ask” Martinez“ to complement her body.”
The suit said Martinez “felt humiliated and powerless every time Ms. Azoff forced her to look at her naked body and offer compliments but felt powerless to disobey.”
Martinez claimed Rochelle even forced her to clean her “sex toys without protective gloves because she claimed to be allergic to rubber.” The housekeeper said Rochelle even made her smell her nightwear “in order to determine whether to wash them, even though they were soiled with bodily fluids and other stains.”
Another incident detailed included an alleged unwanted kiss on a private plane. In April 2022, Martinez described one incident where she allegedly sexually assaulted her at a home during the Coachella Valley Music Festival.
Martinez said she finally asked Rochelle to stop touching her because it brought up past memories of a sexual assault. She claimed that Rochelle laughed at her.
“In response, Rochelle Azoff chastised [Martinez] for being too sensitive, point [sic] out that if she had been through the pain of rape, she would be strong enough to endure her behavior,” the suit said.
On another occasion, she said Rochelle called her into her bedroom where she was smoking a cigarette. She claims Rochelle took her cigarette and burned it on the top of her long sleeve blouse. “The ash went through [Martinez’s] blouse and burned her skin,” the court documents allege.
In June 2022, Martinez said she wrote a letter of resignation and left the note on Rochelle’s bed. She said Rochelle threatened to have her undergo a strip search unless she signed a severance agreement. She said she signed the document to avoid having her body touched.
Later, she claimed to have learned that Rochelle had bad-mouthed her to the agency she was hired from. She said Rochelle told them she had fired her and not that she resigned.
The suit named Irving as a defendant because Martinez claims he had knowledge that his wife had sexually battered her and refused to take action or stop her.
Martinez is seeking unspecified damages.