Celebrity News

Ex-Bodyguards Sue Johnny Depp for Unpaid Wages

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By Teresa Lo

Posted on May 2, 2018

Summary: Johnny Depp is being sued by his former bodyguards for wrongful termination.

Johnny Depp is being sued again, this time by two former bodyguards who claim he conducts unlawful business practices.

The bodyguards filed a lawsuit on Tuesday against Depp for a variety of charges, including unpaid wages, missing overtime, wrongful termination and unlawful business practices, E! News stated. The men said they were exposed to unsafe working conditions and that they acted more like babysitters and chauffers than security to Depp and his family and friends.

The plaintiffs, Eugene Arreola and Miguel Sanchez, said that one of their main duties was to protect Depp from his own vices and that the job was more about caretaking than protecting the actor from the public.

The lawsuit said that Arreola and Sanchez were originally hired to protect Depp through Premier Group International, but they began work for the actor directly in 2016, the year that his financial problems began to escalate. They said that while working as his in-house security from May 2016 to January 2018 they were not given overtime pay or breaks during their 12-hour shifts.

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“In early 2016 Plaintiffs began to notice a stark change in Depp and the atmosphere on his Hollywood Hills compound,” the lawsuit stated. “Depp began making sudden and drastic changes to his staff and management team, causing a significant financial crunch for everyone surrounding Depp, except for Depp himself.”

The plaintiffs said that not only did Depp break labor law rules but that he also made them drive him while there were open containers or drugs in the vehicles.

“As a result of the toxic and dangerous work environment and the constant labor code violations of their employers, Plaintiffs were forced to leave their employment despite the fact that they enjoyed many of the people they worked with and have no ill will toward Johnny Depp,” the lawsuit said.

The ex-bodyguards are seeking a jury trial, according to Deadline. They have also listed Depp’s business partner Edward White as a co-defendant.

In the past few years, Depp, who was once a beloved quirky movie star, has had a slew of bad press because of the lawsuits filed against him. For one, he experienced a messy divorce with actress Amber Heard, who accused him of emotional and physical abuse. Additionally, his ex-business managers claim that he had squandered his own fortune, and they sued him to recover money he allegedly owed them.

This year, Depp is scheduled to go to trial against his ex-managers, The Management Group, who claim that they bailed out Depp with a multi-million dollar bank loan and they are suing to recover the amount. Depp originally sued TMG for $25 million, claiming that they had mismanaged his once gigantic fortune.