Lady Gaga Sue Ex-boss For Thousands Unpaid Overtime Hours

A former personal assistant to Lady Gaga, who says she was cheated out of overtime pay, can take her case to trial, a judge has ruled.
Jennifer O'Neill worked for the singer in early 2009 and again for a year from February 2010.
She claims she was required to be available to her 27-year-old boss 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

She says she was paid at a flat rate of $50,000 (£32,000) annually when she was first hired and $75,000 (£48,000) annually the second time.
It is believed she is suing Gaga for more than 7,000 unpaid hours.

In his written decision, district judge Paul Gardephe noted that lawyers said Gaga and Ms O'Neill frequently slept in the same bed because Ms O'Neill never had her own hotel room while on tour and was required to address Gaga's needs throughout the night.

Gaga in costume during her MTV awards performance

Ms O'Neill had testified in a deposition that if Lady Gaga was watching a DVD in the middle of the night and grew tired of it, she woke her up to take it out and replace it with another.
"Every day is a work day for her, so every day is a work day for the rest of us," she said. "There is no 'We're going to stay in, we're going to sleep'.

There is no, 'Let's put on sweatpants and go out to the movies and be girlfriends'. It doesn't work like that."
In her deposition testimony, Gaga had testified: "You don't get a schedule. You don't get a schedule that is like you punch in and you can play ... at your desk for four hours and then you punch out at the end of the day. This is when I need you, you're available."

Ms O'Neill had testified she was responsible for sometimes monitoring the singer's email and telephone communications and for handling all her luggage - generally 20 bags - including clothing, accessories, makeup and toiletries.

She was also responsible for making sure that "special food" was available at every location and for making sure the singer arrived at performances on time and had ample time for hairstyling, makeup and voice warm-ups and that she appeared on stage on time.

She was forced to postpone tour dates due to hip surgery earlier this year

She said she assisted with costume changes during performances and was responsible afterwards for arranging ice packs, tea and a shower, along with dinner and an exit from the venue.
The judge noted that the women met after Gaga moved into Ms O'Neill's apartment building on the Lower East Side of Manhattan before 2008, when they became roommates and friends.

Ms O'Neill was offered a position as her personal assistant because they were friends and she had experience in the music industry, court papers said.
Mr Gardephe said a jury can decide to what extent Ms O'Neill might be owed compensation from the pop star, whose real name is Stefani Germanotta.
Lawyers did not immediately comment.
Gaga performed in the UK for the first time in a year at the beginning of September after undergoing hip surgery.

From Skynews