A security guard who worked for a daughter of a former president of the African nation of Gabon is suing the woman, alleging she owes him unpaid wages for work performed on her behalf in Beverly Hills.
Lester William Novick’s Los Angeles Superior Court lawsuit against Pascaline Bongo Ondimba alleges constructive wrongful termination, breach of an oral contract, breach of an implied-in-fact contract, unlawful withholding of wages and fraud.
Novick seeks unspecified compensatory and punitive damages in the suit filed Tuesday.
A representative for Ondimba could not be immediately reached.
Ondimba, 63, is a Gabonese politician and the oldest daughter of former President Omar Bongo, who served as Gabonese president from 1967 until his death at age 73 in 2009. Under his leadership, his daughter was Gabonese minister of foreign affairs from 1992-94 and director of the cabinet of the president from 1994-2009.
Novick was hired as a security guard at Ondimba’s primary home in Beverly Hills in 2014 and his duties included taking the family’s children to and from school, supervising the children’s after-school programs and protecting all of the family’s vehicles and the residence, the suit states.
Ondimba, an heiress to her family fortune, leads a lavish lifestyle that has been reported in newspapers in Paris, London and Beverly Hills, the suit states.
As an active foreign dignitary and politician, Ondimba continued her government activities in Beverly Hills and she needed full-time security services to also protect the foreign dignitaries who visited her, according to the suit.
Novick was initially paid $10,000 a month and international travel plans brought him additional money, the suit states.
In 2015, Ondimba pleaded with Novick to accept a reduced rate of $72,000 per year for security services, saying it was only temporary, the suit states. She eventually paid him his full wages and made up for the reduced pay, the suit states.
But in 2018, Ondimba again complained of financial difficulties and asked Novick to understand, the suit states. By 2019, Novick was owed more than more than $96,000 in back wages and the deficit grew to $120,000 the next year, the suit alleges.
The fluctuation of Novick’s salary occurred because it was affected by Ondimba’s access to subsidies and funding from the Gabonese government, the suit states.
“The gross salary deficiencies experienced by (Novick) prevented him from continuing his employment,” the suit states.