NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Joseph & Norinsberg LLC has filed a wrongful termination lawsuit against actor and director Woody Allen, his wife Soon-Yi Previn, and their private home manager Pamela Steigmeyer for violating the Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Act, Internal Revenue Service tax codes, and New York tax codes and labor laws when they fired their personal chef Hermie Fajardo, an active-duty United States Army Reservist, earlier this year.
According to the lawsuit, which was filed in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York, Allen, Previn, and Steigmeyer, terminated Fajardo’s employment in retaliation for taking an additional unplanned day to complete his mandatory reservist training; and his requests that they correct multiple payroll issues including failing to withhold federal and state employment taxes, repay underpaid wages and provide a pay stub.
“From the moment that Mr. Fajardo was hired by Mr. Allen and Soon-Yi Previn to serve as their personal chef they purposefully sought to circumvent federal and state tax codes and labor laws by failing to withhold income taxes or provide him with a paystub,” said Jon Norinsberg, partner at Joseph & Norinsberg LLC who is representing Fajardo in the lawsuit. “It is more than a coincidence that Mr. Allen and Soon-Yi Previn would wrongfully terminate Mr. Fajardo’s employment on the day he returned from mandatory training in the US Army Reserves and underpay during the time he served.
“They need to be held accountable in a court of law as an example to others who would seek to take advantage of their employees, especially those who serve in our armed forces.”
Fajardo, an experienced culinary chef with nearly 10 years of professional experience preparing and cooking luxury meals, worked part time on three different occasions as Allen and Previn’s personal chef before being hired fulltime at an annual salary of $85,000.00.
At the time of his hiring, Fajardo informed Steigmeyer that he was a United States Army Reservist and would require time off from work to complete his mandatory training throughout the year. He provided Steigmeyer with a copy of his annual service schedule which outlined the remaining days in 2024 he would need time off to serve.
According to the complaint, Steigmeyer assured Fajardo that he would be paid his full salary while he was fulfilling his military service commitment and that the time off would not be an issue.
Upon completion of his first week of employment Fajardo received $1,634.62 in gross pay. Since his employment information has not been entered into their ADP’s payroll system, he was paid through a bank-to-bank transfer, without any income taxes being withheld and or being given a paystub.
Steigmeyer told Fajardo that the she would speak with Allen to resolve the payroll issue before the next pay period, but she and Allen’s staff accountant repeatedly rebuffed his efforts to correct these issues, provide an explanation as to why this happened or when there would be a resolution.
Two weeks later, Fajardo reported for his reservist training in New Jersey between July 11-14. On July 13, while completing his training, Fajardo’s sergeant notified him that his training would be extended by one day to include July 15, the day he was supposed to return to work.
As soon as his meeting was over, Fajardo notified Previn that his service had been extended and he would be returning to work one day later than planned. When he returned to work the next day, he was met with resentment and hostility.
It seemed that that the direct deposit issue was finally resolved in his third week of employment. While they correctly withheld the employment taxes, they underpaid him $300 coinciding with the pay period when he was completing his US Army Reserve training.
Fajardo contacted Steigmeyer to ask why he had been underpaid despite assurances that he would be paid in full while training with his reserve unit. According to the complaint, Steigmeyer responded abrasively to Fajardo’s request for clarification, and rather than working to remedy the issue, she threatened his job and said if you “keep[s] asking about this, I hope it will not affect your job in the future.”
This was the first time Fajardo had contacted Steigmeyer about why his most recent salary paycheck was hundreds of dollars less than it should have been. Steigmeyer responded that “I can’t do anything about that now. Let’s talk about it on Monday.”
On Monday afternoon, after he had prepared lunch for Allen and Previn, Steigmeyer asked Fajardo if she could speak with him privately and notified him that they were terminating his employment, effective immediately.
About Joseph & Norinsberg LLC
Joseph & Norinsberg LLC is built on a core philosophy that success comes only from meticulous preparation and hard work. We are NYC employment attorneys that believe very strongly that cases are not won by “showmanship” inside of court, but rather, by relentless and time-consuming preparation outside of court. The firm is committed to fighting passionately and aggressively for each and every client who walks through our doors, no matter who the client is or what the size of their case may be.
The firm readily accepts highly complex and challenging cases, knowing full-well that such cases will require years of exhaustive litigation before reaching a successful conclusion. Regardless of how difficult a case may be, our New York City Employment Lawyers will never, ever quit on a case or on a client. Rather, Joseph & Norinsberg LLC will fight relentlessly on each and every case, and we will do everything in our power to ensure that the client achieves a just and fair result in Court.
