Woman Sues American Idol for Unpaid Compensation

With her high-pitched voice, carrot-shaped purse and sweet disposition, Normandy Vamos may have seemed like the perfect foil for American Idol’s judges, who turned her into a laughingstock in last year’s opening episode. But the Baltimore native is now pursuing a wage and hour class action against the juggernaut talent contest, which commences its 21st season later this month.

In a lawsuit filed Friday in Los Angeles Superior Court against the production companies behind the show and ABC, Vamos, 30, says Idol treated her like an employee and deprived her of compensation. The proposed class action was filed on behalf of Vamos and other unpaid or underpaid performers for Idol over the past four years.

“American Idol’s producers seem to feel they can break labor laws and exploit ambitious young performers simply because they may be eager for a shot at becoming the next Jennifer Hudson or Carrie Underwood,” says Vamos’s attorney, Chantal Payton, principal managing partner of Los Angeles-based Payton Employment Law, PC. “Vamos and other performers who create content for American Idol have rights as employees, but the producers have chosen to ignore those rights. They treated them as so-called volunteers, when in reality they are employees who should be paid.”

Read the source article at einnews.com