LOS ANGELES, Calif. — Writers for E!’s “Fashion Police” filed claims with the California Division of Labor Standards Enforcement today, alleging the cable network violated state labor laws by not paying them for all the regular and overtime hours they worked.
The writers allege they are owed more than $1 million.
“The most I’ve been paid for a show has been for eight hours of work,” “Fashion Police” writer Eliza Kinner said in a statement issued by the Writers Guild of America, West.
“In reality, I put in anywhere from 12 to 32 additional hours on each show — time I should have been compensated for,” she said. “On top of that is all the unpaid overtime we regularly work. There are some shows where we are required to work 16-hour days, from 2:30 p.m. until around 5:30 the following
morning.”
According to a statement issued by E! Entertainment, the network “values our ‘Fashion Police’ writers and we pay them fairly and in full legal compliance.”
But the writers contend “Fashion Police” ignores California laws that require an employer to pay hourly employees their regular wage rate for all time worked in an eight-hour period. In addition, the law requires paying overtime for employment beyond eight hours in any workday or more than 40 hours
in any work week.
“We love writing for ‘Fashion Police,’ but the company needs to do the right thing and pay us fairly for all the hard work and time we put into it,” writer Bryan Cook said. “We’ve helped make it one of the network’s top-rated shows and E! needs to start treating us like professional writers.”
The series features hosts such as Joan Rivers and Kelly Osbourne commenting on celebrity fashion. The series is produced by Rivers’ daughter, Melissa.
The WGA provided legal assistance to the eight writers in their filings.
