‘Fashion Police’ Writers Now File Labor Complaints Against Joan Rivers’ Company

There are more labor problems for Fashion Police. Today host Joan Rivers’ Rugby Productions had complaints filed against it by four more writers on the E! series. The scribes’ latest claims for back pay with the California Division of Labor Standards Enforcement adds $400,000 to the $1.1 million that the reality show writers are already seeking in previous filings with the state last week. There are now 12 Fashion Police writers having filed claims against the show. As part of its process, the DLSE will hold hearings to see if in fact Rugby and Comcast-owned broadcaster E! Network are liable to the writers for back pay and penalties. Though Fashion Police is not unionized, the WGA West helped the writers with the legal paperwork today as it did in the complaints with the DLSE the writers filed against E! on April 3. Rivers herself is a member of the Guild. Fashion Police violated state laws requiring an employer to pay hourly employees their regular wage rate for all the time they worked in an eight-hour period, claim the writers. The scribes are also citing the law that requires overtime payment any work performed beyond eight hours in any workday or 40 hours in any workweek. “We have not seen any claim filed by anyone anywhere and therefore cannot comment at this time,” Rivers manager Larry A. Thompson told me today. E! said last week after the initial complaint was filed that it “values our Fashion Police writers and we pay them fairly and in full legal compliance.” Fashion Police debuted on E! in September 2010.