Who is Kelly Rocklein? James Charles’ alleged former employee claims she worked for over 80 hours a week without overtime pay

James Charles now faces a barrage of allegations from a former employee, Kelly Rocklein, who is suing him for wrongful termination and failing to pay minimum wage for overtime work.

The YouTuber has been entangled in controversy since the outing of his alleged sexting scandal with underage kids. The resulting backlash even led to the demonetization of Charles’ YouTube channel and fashion brands. Morphe Cosmetics also parted ways with him.

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James Charles used ‘N-word,’ made employee work overtime without pay and more

Currently, James Charles’ attention is probably focused on the new lawsuit from Kelly Rocklein. She alleges she faced disability discrimination due to a concussion and the YouTuber did not even provide reasonable accommodation.

James Charles’ former creative director is suing him for a slew of allegations, including disability discrimination after she says she got a concussion and dozens of hours of what she says is unpaid overtime.https://t.co/vzCgvI2iz1

— Kat Tenbarge (@kattenbarge) May 12, 2021

However, the bombshell revelation from Kelly Rocklein and another source claims that James Charles uttered the ‘N-word’ while in their company.

It must be noted that the multi-millionaire streamer has responded to the allegations in a new video posted on his Twitter handle on May 11th.

pic.twitter.com/Bm8gHvbgeO

— James Charles (@jamescharles) May 11, 2021

The fashion influencer was also asked to comment to Insider regarding the usage of the ‘N-word.’ James Charles took up the request but denied using the “N-word.”

Nevertheless, Kelly Rocklein has alleged that he commonly used the slur “with a hard ‘R’” while being in her presence.

In the same video, James addressed claims I sent him ahead of publication, including that he uses the N-word privately. Two people — Kelly and an old friend of James’ — told me that James used the slur “with a hard ‘R’” in front of them. https://t.co/KuNa5OnTjZ

— Kat Tenbarge (@kattenbarge) May 12, 2021

James Charles professed in a new video to apparently being blackmailed by Kelly Rocklein. Kelly’s legal stated that the 21-year-old’s associates allegedly tried to kill the Insider story with a settlement offer.

The beauty guru’s manager issued a statement, saying:

“James made a reasonable settlement offer for an employment lawsuit, she countered with an outrageous amount of money to settle and to retract her public statements, James wasn’t willing to pay her off.”

Kelly Rocklein’s attorney also responded to James Charles’ official statement on the ‘blackmail’ allegation. Readers can see the tweet below.

And a response to that from Kelly's attorney: "The offer made was to silence Kelly and to have her retract the story and it was in no way reasonable considering all the damages that she is entitled to under the law."

— Kat Tenbarge (@kattenbarge) May 12, 2021

James Charles also denied commenting on the particular claims made by Kelly Rocklein on the Insider story when asked before its publication.

It must be noted that the make-up artist couldn’t address the issue due to the ongoing litigation, but James did respond to a few other claims in his May 11th video.

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Who is Kelly Rocklein?

James Charles' former creative director, Kelly Rocklein (Image via Instagram)

Kelly Rocklein, an influencer herself, served as James Charles’ former producer back in 2018, when she was 23. Her official employment contract titled the position as “Creative Director and Director of Operations.”

As revealed in the 26-year-old’s recent lawsuit and her detailed sit-down with Insider, her job included several responsibilities. They encapsulated profiles like strategizing James Charles’ social media posts, video ideas, capturing photos and clips of the YouTuber, and handling his merchandise, Sisters Apparel.

Rocklein served as Charles’ “right-hand-person” every day during the six months she spent with him. She also claims that the internet personality maintained his regular upload schedule and grew from 2.8 million subscribers to a behemoth of 8.5 million.

“Think of everything James posted for those six months. I was involved in it to the point where if I didn’t show up that day, James wouldn’t get work done.”

Before working with James Charles, Kelly also served as Erika Costell’s creative director and producer. Costell was a member of Jake Paul’s “Team 10” on YouTube.

Rocklein also sued Costell on claims of failure to pay wages but settled the dispute in 2021. There aren’t more details on the suit since Rocklein can’t discuss it as part of the agreement.

Kelly Rocklein initially desired a competitive six-figure salary along with health benefits. But she instead negotiated a $5,000 per month pay and a possible annual bonus based on her work performance.

However, the roughly $72,000 salary was still comparatively less than the city’s living expenses in downtown LA, where Kelly resided in a shared room. She also claims to have never been paid for the total hours she worked for him, including the overtime.

“It was sketchy, and now, with career experience, I know that people will take advantage of you. But at the time, I was like ‘OK, well, I trust them.’”

Kelly Rocklein has also claimed that James Charles seemed “incredibly unprofessional” during her more than 80 hours a week of work time.

“Imagine having to go over and essentially pick James up out of bed, tell him to brush his teeth, tell him ‘OK, what do you want to eat? OK, someone is coming to do your laundry. OK, I’m going to get your laundry, I guess. OK, time to start filming — you don’t want to film — well, we both know you have to. So please let’s think about it.’”

James Charles has clarified in his May 10th video that he will be moving forward with the lawsuit as a defendant. But it seems likely the proceedings will be a long journey for both parties, and the outcome remains unknown.