Stagehand Sues Dick Clark Co.

Dick Clark Productions is headed to court with a former stagehand who claims the company delayed paying him for more than two months after he worked the American Music Awards ceremony in 2008.

Charles Griffin filed a suit Nov. 28 that charges, “DCP routinely fails to devote sufficient resources to the payroll accounting function, with the result that such late payment of wages is customary rather than exceptional.”

And Griffin alleges he isn’t the only DCP employee who received such treatment. He’s seeking class-action status to cover all crew members employed by DCP in California for the three years prior to filing the complaint.

The suit claims DCP violated several sections of California’s Labor Code and, because of this, should be forced to pay continuing wages for the employees in excess of $400,000.

The labor code states that if an employer “willfully” fails to pay a discharged employee’s wages by the next regular payday, “the wages of the employee shall continue as a penalty from the due date thereof at the same rate until paid” up to 30 days.

Dick Clark Productions responded in a statement to Deadline Hollywood that “the well-being of those colleagues is of the utmost importance to us. Our first knowledge of this alleged three-year claim came from one individual yesterday and strangely via media inquiry. We are immediately investigating the matter and will respond appropriately.”