Brandy Tells Judge She Doesn’t Owe Ex-Housekeeper A Dime In Wrongful Termination Lawsuit
July 12 2022, Published 3:38 p.m. ET
Singer Brandy has rushed to court to defend herself against accusations she discriminated against her longtime housekeeper due to her age, RadarOnline.com has learned.
According to court documents obtained by RadarOnline.com, the 43-year-old denied the claims she failed to pay Maria Elizabeth Castaneda her proper wages or provide required meal breaks.
Further, she said she did not discriminate against the worker due to her age.
Brandy (real name: Brandy Norwood) said in court documents that Maria was not her employee but rather an “independent contractor” who performed housekeeping services.
The singer’s lawyer wrote, “[Brandy denies] all claims and damages. [Maria] was never an employee and she decided to cease performing services.”
The Boy Is Fine singer doesn’t appear ready to settle the suit with Maria and provided a series of available dates for a trial. She expects it should take a total of 5 days in court.
As RadarOnline.com first reported, Maria filed her bombshell lawsuit in March accusing Brandy of failure to pay proper wages, failing to provide proper meal breaks, age discrimination, failure to prevent discrimination and wrongful termination.
Maria said she worked for the singer from September 2002 through February 2022. She performed her duties at the singer’s Calabasas mansion.
In court docs, she said she was paid a daily rate of $125. Her responsibilities included cooking, cleaning and doing the laundry
Maria believed Brandy terminated her in 2022 because she wanted a younger employee. Further, she said she wasn’t paid for her last 2 days of work.
Maria’s lawyer said his client was “not permitted to take an uninterrupted 10-minute rest break in the morning and an uninterrupted 10-minute rest break in the afternoon, nor was [Castaneda] permitted to take an uninterrupted 30-minute meal rest break.”
The ex-housekeeper filed a complaint with the California Fair Employment and Housing in March 2022 and then filed the civil lawsuit.
Never Miss an
Daily updates from the heart of Hollywood, right to your inbox
By entering your email and clicking Sign Up, you’re agreeing to let us send you customized marketing messages about us and our advertising partners. You are also agreeing to our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy.
Maria demands in excess of $250k for the alleged age discrimination and for the alleged harm including “emotional distress.”
As RadarOnline.com previously reported, earlier this year, Brandy was sued by a fashion designer named Elle B. Mambetov. In the suit, the stylist said she loaned Brandy expensive duds along with an 18-karat rose gold diamond ring worth $45k. Mambetov claimed the ring was never returned.
Brandy has denied wrongdoing.
