LaKeith Stanfield and Wife Sued by Travel Nanny Over Alleged Unpaid Wages
Feb. 1 2024, Published 2:48 p.m. ET
Actor LaKeith Stanfield and his wife, Kasmere Trice, have been hit with a lawsuit from a travel nanny who claims she got stiffed after a week of work caring for the couple's infant child while they were visiting New York.
According to the complaint submitted in Los Angeles County Superior Court and obtained by RadarOnline.com, plaintiff Monica Sawyer agreed to take the job for $500 a day from Oct. 31 to Nov. 7, 2023.
On Halloween, Sawyer said that she traveled to the Big Apple to meet the couple at the Greenwich Hotel and immediately got to work.
Sawyer said it soon became apparent to her that she had barely any time to eat, sleep or shower as she was constantly bombarded with additional tasks while fulfilling Trice's request that she send updates every few hours.
Sawyer said she also asked for a one-hour break to make a telemedicine call after they relocated to The Dominick Hotel on Nov. 2, where she and the couple had adjoining rooms.
"While Trice did provide the one-hour break, Plaintiff was met with aggression and attitude when she brought it up," per the complaint.
Days later, Sawyer said she thanked Trice via text for trusting their child in her care, but also made it clear she was "exhausted" and asked for four hours off a day.
"However, while on her break Trice continuously messaged Plaintiff requesting access to her room, giving detailed instruction of how to prepare the infant's bottles, and requesting that Plaintiff bring a prepared bottle to Defendant's room," the docs stated.
The next day, Sawyer said something similar happened when she got downtime and went to dinner but less than 15 minutes later, Stanfield messaged her to ensure that Trice would be brought juice, so she had to break from dinner to call the hotel and have it delivered to their room.
According to Sawyer, the final days of her role were met with just as much tension after she expressed that she didn't want to hold the child on their returning flight.
She said Trice paid her a visit to "demand an explanation," and Sawyer said she reiterated that seating the infant on her lap was a concern because it is a safety risk.
"She also expressed her frustration for having the infant for seven days straight with no breaks to use the restroom, eat, or even shower," per the lawsuit. According to Sawyer, she often did not take meal breaks on time and sometimes had to skip them altogether.
Trice apparently brushed off her claims and said that's what travel nannies do, allegedly saying others she had employed never requested breaks.
The plaintiff said that Trice canceled her flight and forced her to find her own transportation back to L.A. after the exchange.
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Upon her return home, she sent them an invoice but claims to have never seen a dollar.
Sawyer believes she was "terminated for complaining about Defendants' various wage and hour violations."
Sawyer wants to be paid for the time she worked and for the defendants to cover attorneys' fees as well as the costs of the lawsuit.
RadarOnline.com has reached out to a rep for LaKeith Stanfield for comment.