Vanderpump Rules fame Ken and Lisa bashed in court for over 14,000 unpaid worker hours in $490,000 settlement

Vanderpump Rules starlets Ken Todd and Lisa Vanderpump shot to fame by being one of the OG couples on the Real Housewives of Beverly Hills. They opened SUR, a restaurant that kicked off the now-wildly popular show Vanderpump Rules. It's now entering its 11th season, and audiences have been eating it up as the servers dish more drama with each episode. This drama, however, comes at a cost. Lisa Vanderpump and Kenn Todd are now in the spotlight since they did not pay Ernest R. Bennick and other staff $490,000, for their previous accusation of unfair employment practices against the duo.

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, as reported by The U.S. Sun.

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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.

Per The U.S. Sun, 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.”

While their attorney expressed that the restaurant was indeed going through a financial crisis and had a backlog, explaining their lack of assets, Ernest put out a statement yet again, stating these claims were false.

Ernest tried to back his claims by alluding to statements made by Ken where he called himself a "multimillionaire individual." Ernest also cited this, among other things, as a reason he believed the Vanderpump Rules stars could very well afford to pay the settlement but "didn't want to".

He also shared that Ken Todd had two other lawsuits filed against him, which he was managing to escape from, making Todd believe he was "above the law".

Lisa and Ken's attorney stated later in the report that the Vanderpump Rules couple has agreed to "an enforceable Settlement Agreement to resolve this putative class action." This means that they may still have to go to trial if the court demands it.

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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.