A former personal chef of Woody Allen and wife Soon-Yi Previn has filed a lawsuit alleging they fired him for taking time off to train in the U.S. Army Reserves and then questioning payment improprieties upon his return.
In a complaint filed Tuesday in Manhattan federal court, professional chef Hermie Fajardo said that defendants Allen, Previn and their private home manager Pamela Steigmeyer violated the Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Act (USERRA), Internal Revenue Service tax codes and New York State labor and tax laws.
He alleged he was let go soon after asking why they underpaid him during his service, failed to withhold taxes and initially paid him via bank-to-bank transfer without a pay stub or tax withholding.
Steigmeyer and Allen’s accountant “repeatedly rebuffed his efforts to correct these issues, provide an explanation as to why this happened or when there would be a resolution,” Fajardo’s attorneys, Joseph & Norinsberg LLC, said in a statement.
According to the complaint, Steigmeyer told Fajardo that taking time off for reservist training would be no problem and promised him full pay. But after he had to stay an extra day, he was met with “resentment and hostility” when he returned and his check was $300 short, according to his attorneys.
When Fajardo pressed for answers, Steigmeyer allegedly responded “abrasively,” saying, “I hope it will not affect your job in the future.”
On his first day back from training, Fajardo said he made lunch for Allen and Previn, then Steigmeyer took him aside and abruptly fired him. He was told the couple didn’t like his cooking, “despite offering him effusive praise for his culinary prowess during his employment, demonstrating pretext and proving defendants’ obvious discriminatory and retaliatory animus,” the complaint states.
Fajardo is seeking unspecified damages for economic harm as well as “mental anguish, emotional distress and humiliation, and damages caused to his personal and professional reputations,” in addition to legal fees.
“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,” attorney Jon Norinsberg said in a statement.
Allen’s representatives did not respond to requests for comment from the Daily News.