A producer of “The Ellen DeGeneres Show” and a dancer for the former daytime program have settled the dancer’s lawsuit in which she alleged she was owed unpaid wages.
Plaintiff Raphaelle Bardet saied she was hired in February 2021 to appear on “The Ellen DeGeneres Show” as a background talent to dance and appear on the show. She alleged in her Los Angeles Superior Court lawsuit that she was denied her full wages, as well as meal and rest breaks and overtime.
Bardet previously dropped DeGeneres and A Very Good Production as defendants in her lawsuit, leaving WAD Productions Inc. as the remaining defendant in the complaint suit filed in July 2021.
On Wednesday, a clerk for Judge Stuart M. Rice issued a minute order stating that Bardet and WAD were finalizing a settlement agreement. No terms were divulged.
Last March, Rice denied a motion by WAD attorneys to dismiss the company as a defendant. The defense attorneys maintained that the parties agreed in December 2021 to a $30,000 settlement and that the former judge in the case congratulated both sides.
Rice said it was undisputed that there was a resolution, but that it was not clear if it was enforceable. He noted that Bardet’s attorneys maintained the purported accord involved a “material misrepresentation” by WAD’s lawyers.
“The court’s ruling is only that the evidence surrounding the settlement, taken in the light most favorable to (Bardet) and drawing all reasonable inferences in her favor, creates triable issues as to each element of fraudulent inducement (and) a defense to enforcement of the settlement agreement,” according to Rice.
“The Ellen DeGeneres Show” aired from September 2003 to May 2022.