Posted on September 30th, 2021
Find below a complete transcript of this video.
What’s up fellow entrepreneurs, today I want to talk about the very famous business owner and employer Kim Kardashian. But first I’m an attorney, but I’m not your attorney. So please seek out competent legal advice for your specific question or concern.
Now, most of us think of Kim Kardashian as a celebrity, without really thinking about the fact that she’s an entrepreneur, she’s a business owner and ultimately an employer in California.
That’s right. I’m saying that you and Kim Kardashian are similar if not the same in the eyes of California. So I’ll prove it. From what I could find, Kardashians owns three companies. She owns skims shape, wear line valued at 1.6 billion KKK. KKW valued at 1 billion and KKW fragrance, which I couldn’t find a value for.
I also couldn’t find out how many employees are tied to Kim Kardashians specifically, but I can imagine that it’s considerable considering her, the value of her companies and the brand as most of us business owners know with California employees come California lawsuits and the rich and famous are probably even easier targets than the majority of small businesses in California.
So Kardashian has been getting some hate recently with claims that she’s not a good employer. However, let’s distinguish between a bad employer and one that is breaking the law.
There’s a difference between the two, for example, a former employee that worked as an associate editor for the Kardashian Jenner official app for a little more than a year, claimed on Twitter posts that they are bad employees because they underpaid her and exploited her doesn’t sound very specific or illegal does it.
So according to the employee, she had to buy groceries at the 99 cent store while working with them. She also said she was reprimanded for freelancing on the side. All right, dear employee, this will be harsh, but someone has to tell you, before you go through life thinking you are entitled to anything other than the value you bring to a relationship, you were paid, what you were paid, because that’s the value that you brought to the company.
If you brought more value, the Kardashians would’ve likely paid you more to stay. So hopefully you learned a lot from your experience and you are now able to command more money for your skills.
I would say, be grateful for that experience and use it to do better for yourself. Instead of complaining that someone isn’t giving you something that wasn’t agreed on the choice is yours to leave for better pay, just as it’s their choice to replace you. I
f there’s a more skilled person at your position that is willing to do your job for the same or less, yes, the Kardashians are billionaires, but they don’t owe you anything more than what was agreed upon.
All right. Just had to get that off. So who knows if Kim Kardashian or the other Kardashians are good employers or not? It sounds pretty subjective to me.
And at least one of the complainants should consider the decision, the decisions she’s making about our life, rather than assuming she’s entitled to something more than was agreed on because of the Kardashians.
The next question then is whether Kim Kardashian is breaking the law several months ago, a lawsuit was filed against Kim Kardashian claiming that our domestic workers never received pay stubs were not paid on regular pay periods.
We’re not given their required meals and rest breaks, were not provided a means to record all their hours were not paid. All their hours were not reimbursed for employment.
Expenses were not paid. All their overtime wages were not paid their wages upon termination of employment. If any of these claims are true, then of course, Kim Kardashian has violated California labor laws.
However, I am suspicious of the claims at least as to whether it was Kim Kardashian directly violating labor laws.
Kardashians says that she did not hire the plaintiffs directly. And that our contract is with a third-party vendor that provides domestic help and that the vendor is responsible for the wages and other employment issues related to the workers.
That seems like a reasonable defense considering it’s likely that a person running billion dollar companies would have third party vendors deal with all the things in their life that can be handled without her.
But unfortunately for Kim Kardashian, the nonsense that is California labor law makes her potential liable as a joint, a player.
So the California Supreme court set out the factors that can create a joint employer relationship in Martinez vs Combs under this test to employ means one to exercise control over the wages of the con or the conditions or work of the employee to, to suffer or permit the work or three to engage, thereby creating a common law employment relationship.
Any one of these three factors can create an employment relationship in California, of course not to be out done.
The California department of labor went on to make the already broad definitions of an employer, even broader by saying that an employee can have two or more employers for the work that he or she is performing when two or more employers jointly employ an employee, the employee’s hours worked for all the joint employers during the workweek are aggregated and considered as one employment, including for purposes of calculating, whether calculating whether overtime pay is due.
Additionally, if a joint employment exists, all of the joint employers are jointly and severally liable for the acts of the other.
This is how I think they’re likely including Kardashians. Since domestic workers were closely with their hosts, it’s probable that Kardashians instructed the domestic workers on certain duties or wants, which would then likely make her a joint employer since the claim will be that she directed their work since she is then considered a joint employer.
She’s also responsible for any bad acts of the third party hiring agency, even if she was not aware of the labor violations and did not herself commit any light labor violations while just like that instant liability for labor claims, even if she didn’t specifically do something wrong.
And even if she had no idea what was happening, I know some of you don’t feel bad for this self-made billionaire, but just remember we are all easy targets under California labor laws, and if they can get a billionaire, they can get you.
So till next time be productive.
