LISA Vanderpump’s dog charity has been forced to settle a four-year legal battle with a former employee, who accused the non-profit of “intolerable working conditions.”
The Vanderpump Dog Foundation [TVDF] was sued by Eswin Rolando Bulux Tax – known as “Bulux” in the lawsuit.
Bulux, who sued over alleged loss of wages and “constant pressure” at work, initially won a $250,000 default judgment due to the non-profit failing to respond to the suit in time.
But representatives later claimed that all legal documents were being “sent to a random address in another city.”
They were successful in having the judgment set aside – and board member Dr.John Sessa told The U.S. Sun in January that the complaint was being withdrawn and was “no longer active”.
Yet now, after mediation, new court filings reveal that the two sides have settled and the case is set to be dismissed.
Due to the preceding default judgment, TVDF still has an active lien for $246,377 against its property.
Bulux was hired full-time at $12.50 an hour in May 2017 by the cleaning services department of the charity.
He claimed in court documents that he was unable to take a rest or meal breaks due to the “constant pressure” and wasn’t paid the correct amount of wages and overtime.
The lawsuit states, “For the times Plaintiff worked at Defendants’ facilities, he was not provided with proper uninterrupted meal and rest periods.
JURY TRIAL
“On numerous occasions, Plaintiff required and/or forced to forego meal break completely when there was too much work at hand.
“Plaintiff’s meals were interrupted when a task came up that Defendants wanted him to attend to. Each interrupted meal period is to be treated like a missed meal period and thus must be compensated as one hour of work time.
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“Thus, Plaintiff was not given proper meal breaks and typically had to eat while working.”
He also alleges that he wasn’t given “complete or accurate wage statements” and the non-profit “failed to list the appropriate hourly rates [he] was legally entitled to.”
Bulux says that he would “encourage other employees to exercise their rights about not being paid proper wages, overtime, as well as their intolerable working conditions” – and claims TVDF retaliated to his whistleblowing with punitive measures.
The suit adds, “Defendants retaliated against Plaintiff for blowing the whistle, complaining about/protesting against Defendants’ unlawful activities where Plaintiff had reasonable cause to believe Defendants were violating the law.
“Defendants also engaged in discrimination and retaliation in that he made his intentions known about filing a workers’ compensation claim, which contributed to Defendants retaliating and terminating him. They also singled him out for disadvantageous treatment by denying him breaks and encouraging other employees to harass and punish him.”
The filings go on, “Plaintiff has suffered and will continue to suffer pain and suffering, extreme and severe mental anguish, emotional distress, loss of earnings, other employment and job benefits and special damages.
PREVIOUS SUIT
“Plaintiff is informed and believes and based thereon alleges that the outrageous conduct of Defendants described above was done with malice, fraud, and oppression and with conscious disregard for his rights and with the intent, design, and purpose of injuring him.”
TVDF failed to respond to the lawsuit filed in April 2020 and, eight months later, Judge David Sotelo awarded Bulux $213,143 in damages, $21,234 in interest, $11,085 in attorney fees, and $915 costs.
The case was set for a jury trial for this month, but that’s now been called off.
This is just the latest lawsuit to hit the foundation.
Meanwhile, the charity has previously been hit with damaging suits involving alleged negligence, fraud, and sexual harassment.
The latest figures from its last annual tax return – called a 990 for nonprofits – show it made a loss of $73,998 – although it still has $241,793 in reserves.
In July 2021, an unknown woman sued for negligence and fraud claiming that it had falsified the records of a dog she took home leading her to get worms, which was eventually settled in April 2022.
In January 2020, it was hit with another suit, this time ex-worker Damiana Guzman claimed sexual harassment and wrongful termination due to “intolerable working conditions” created by manager Martin Duarte.
She alleged that Duarte “mocked [her] by calling her things such as a ‘skinny no-ass fool,’ and a ‘flat-ass bitch.’ He also told [her] that he didn’t know how her girlfriend could stand to be with her because she had no ass.”
Guzman also alleged in court documents that “not a day went by where Duarte didn’t make a comment about [her] body, her sexual preference, or his sexual prowess” and that she complained to higher-ups.
She believed that no disciplinary action was taken, so she resigned.
TVDF denied all allegations and the case was later dropped by Guzman.
