HOLLYWOOD, Calif. — Actress Elizabeth Hurley and her husband Arun Nayar have settled a dispute with a former maid who argued she was paid peanuts by the couple.
Violet D'Souza claimed she worked up to 19 hours a day and sometimes seven days a week at the couple's London home, barely earning $3 an hour and sometimes even less. Working up to 70 hours a week at times, she claims she earned between $2.33 and $3.10 an hour, which is far less than the British minimum wage of $10.71.
D'Souza is said to have cooked and cleaned for the couple, in addition to baby-sitting duties. She also alleges that they paid her in the Indian currency of rupees. D'Souza filed charges against the couple after being fired last summer.
The angry maid was prepared to tell her story to an employment tribunal Thursday, however she accepted a five-figure settlement on Wednesday and withdrew her charges.
Last March, Hurley married her wealthy Indian businessman husband in a secret service at Sudeley Castle. In 2002, she welcomed a son from her previous relationship with American film producer Stephen Bing.
Thanks to her roles in films like "Austin Powers" and many lucrative modeling contracts, Hurley is said to have a net worth of $25 million.
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