Starlets Ken Todd and Lisa Vanderpump from Vanderpump Rules gained notoriety as one of the first couples on the Real Housewives of Beverly Hills. Their restaurant, SUR, served as the catalyst for the now massively famous television program Vanderpump Rules. As the servers dish out more drama with each episode, the show is about to enter its eleventh season, and audiences have been gobbling it up. There is, however, a price to this drama. Since they refused to give Ernest R. Bennick and other employees $490,000 for their earlier allegations of unfair employment practices against Lisa Vanderpump and Kenn Todd, the two have found themselves in the public eye.
The lawsuit was filed on behalf of Ernest and others whom the couple had employed. The settlement requested by Ernest’s legal team came up to $490,000, which the star couple has yet to pay, but there has been a lot of back and forth since.
Vanderpump Rules’ Lisa Vanderpump and Kenn Todd face a lawsuit
Lisa Vanderpump and Kenn Todd have for long been known as reality TV’s power couple. After their show Vanderpump Rules kicked off, the attention being garnered is unfathomable.
Vanderpump Rules documented the lives of the employees of her several restaurants, including SUR and Pump. Around three years prior to the date of writing, a lawsuit was filed against them and Pump LLC, for breaking “labor laws” by some of her employees, led by Ernest R. Bennick. Upon investigation, it was discovered that the crew had been overworked and underpaid. 14,000 unpaid working hours were calculated, the overall value of which falls to approximately $2 million.
The duo had also been accused of not providing their staff with breaks for meals, pay for their overtime work, and so on. In a statement during the duration of the lawsuit, Ernest also stated that Lisa and Ken had falsely portrayed that Pump LLC had “no assets,” when in fact it did.
Ernest R. Bennick had pursued for the approval of a motion that would earn them $171,500 for attorney costs and he pitched to receive $7,500 since he was extensively involved in “prosecuting this case.”
On hearing the motion proposed by Ernest, the couple’s attorney stated that they and Pump LLC “does not intend to perform the terms of the mediated settlement agreement, but would be willing to discuss alternatives with Plaintiff’s counsel.”
Ernest released another statement refuting their attorney’s assertions that the restaurant was experiencing financial difficulties and had a backlog, which was the reason for their lack of assets. Ernest attempted to support his assertions by referencing remarks made by Ken in which he referred to himself as a “multimillionaire individual.” Ernest mentioned this as well as other reasons why he thought the Vanderpump Rules cast members “didn’t want to” pay the settlement.
He further disclosed that Todd felt he was “above the law” because he was able to evade two earlier lawsuits that were brought against him. Later in the report, Lisa and Ken’s attorney said that they had reached “an enforceable Settlement Agreement to resolve this putative class action.” This implies that if the court requires it, they might still have to go to trial.
How this case will unfold remains to be seen. Vanderpump Rules is preparing for its 11th season, with the cast geared up with more drama in January 2024, on Bravo.