Tracee Ellis Ross’ Ex-Assistant Drops $300k Battle Over Unpaid Wages
Oct. 12 2022, Published 3:00 p.m. ET
Tracee Ellis Ross’ ex-assistant has dropped her legal battle where she accused the Black-ish star of stiffing her on wages, RadarOnline.com has learned.
According to court documents obtained by RadarOnline.com, Samantha Wilkins has informed the court she is dropping all claims against the actress and her company Joy Mill Entertainment.
As RadarOnline.com first reported, last year, Wilkins accused Ross of working her to the bone and failing to pay her a substantial amount in overtime.
The ex-assistant said she was employed by Ross from November 2019 through July 2021. Her initial rate of pay was $25 per hour with overtime.
A month later, Ross decided to classify Wilkins as an exempt employee and paid her a salary of $70k. A non-exempt employee would be entitled to overtime pay for all hours worked over 40.
A year later, Ross increased Wilkins salary to $100k. However, Wilkins said she should have been classified as a non-exempt employee and entitled to overtime.
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In November 2020, Wilkins said Ross and her company “finally corrected” her employment status and starting paying her as a non-exempt, hourly employee. The former personal assistant said “therefore, from December 19, 2019, to November 24, 2020, Defendants misclassified Wilkins employment and treated her as a non-exempt employee.”
She accused Ross of “illegally paying” her a salary “without regard to the number of hours she worked, the number of hours she was on call, the overtime and double time hours that she worked, or the meal and rest periods that she missed.”
In the suit, Wilkins said she often worked more than 40 hours per week but was not paid overtime. She said that she regularly worked 12 hours+ days and worked 7 days a week. The ex-assistant said she was “regularly denied meal and rest breaks.” The suit even accused Ross of violating California Labor Codes.
Wilkins’ lawyer said Ross “failed to pay” her “approximately $300,000.00 in wages and penalties. Ross denied all claims of wrongdoing and moved to dismiss the suit.
All signs point to a confidential settlement being reached behind the scenes.