Johnny Depp being sued by former bodyguards about unpaid wages and unsafe working conditions
Two of Johnny Depp's former bodyguards have filed a lawsuit against the 54-year-old actor for many alleged offenses, including unpaid wages, overtime, wrongful and unlawful business practices.
As reported by E!News, according to court documents, the security guards have claimed that they were "exposed to unsafe working conditions and essentially used as babysitters and chauffeurs for Depp, his children, and his entourage."
Eugene Arreola, a retired LAPD detective, and Miguel Sanchez have alleged that they "were forced to protect Defendant Depp from himself".
In the lawsuit, the men have claimed, "Often times Plaintiffs were forced to protect Defendant Depp from himself and his vices while in public, becoming caretakers for him. An incident at a local nightclub involved Plaintiffs alerting Depp of illegal substances visible on his face and person while preventing onlookers from seeing Depp's condition."
The suit also claims that Arreola and Sanchez worked for Depp via Premier Group International. However, when the Pirates of the Carribean star hit some financial problems, he directly hired Arreola and Sanchez to protect him which is when the problems started to arise.
Arreola and Sanchez claim that from May 2016 to January 2018, they were not paid for their overtime wages, given any off-duty meal, or even rest breaks during their hectic and long 12 hour shifts. The lawsuit also reveals that the bodyguards were also used as "drivers" and "were asked repeatedly to drive vehicles that contained illegal substances, open containers, and minors."
"Sanchez, whose primary detail was the protection of Depp’s children, was more often than not the primary caretaker for Depp’s minor child, who lived off of Depp's compound in a separate home alone. Worse yet, Sanchez was told to give in to every whim of Depp’s children and worried he would lose his job if he did not comply with their demands," the document continued.
"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 guards stated.
According to the documents, the bodyguards also spoke of an incident involving Leonard Damian, the head of Depp's security team, accidentally shot himself in the leg while working with Sanchez and the security guard claims he had to rush Damian to the hospital.