NEW YORK (AP) — Woody Allen 's former personal chef claims in a lawsuit that the filmmaker and his wife fired him because of his service in the U.S. Army Reserves and questions about his pay, then “rubbed salt on the wounds” by saying they didn't like his cooking.
Allen and Soon-Yi Previn “simply decided that a military professional who wanted to be paid fairly was not a good fit to work in the Allen home,” private chef Hermie Fajardo said in a civil complaint filed Tuesday in federal court in Manhattan.
Allen and Previn knew Fajardo would need time off for military training exercises when they and their home manager hired him as their full-time chef in June 2024 at an annual salary of $85,000, the complaint said. But he was fired the following month, soon after returning from a training that lasted a day longer than expected, it said.
When Fajardo returned to work, “he was immediately met with instant hostility and obvious resentment by defendants,” according to the lengthy complaint.
At the time, Fajardo had been raising concerns about his pay — first that his employers weren't properly withholding taxes or providing a paystub, then that they shortchanged him by $300, according to the complaint.
Allen, Previn and manager Pamela Steigmeyer are accused in the lawsuit of violating the federal Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act and New York labor law, as well as causing Fajardo humiliation, stress and a loss of earnings.
Representatives for Allen did not immediately respond to emails seeking comment.
Fajardo said he was hired after being showered with compliments following a meal of roasted chicken, pasta, chocolate cake and apple pie he prepared for the defendants and two guests. According to the complaint, it was only after Previn fired him and he hired a lawyer that he was told his cooking was not up to par, a claim Fajardo said was untrue.
FILE - Filmmaker Woody Allen, right, and Soon-Yi Previn arrive for an event in Cannes, southern France, May 15, 2010. (AP Photo/Matt Sayles, File)
SYDNEY (AP) — A team from rugby league hotspot Papua New Guinea will enter the National Rugby League from 2028 after officially being granted a license.
Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and his Papua New Guinean counterpart James Marape met in Sydney on Thursday to shake hands over the deal, the culmination of two years of planning. The pair reached an in-principle agreement with the NRL in May, and have since been working out specifics.
“A Papua New Guinea NRL team is a game-changer for Australia’s relationship with PNG and a unifying force — no two countries have a greater passion for rugby league," Albanese said in a statement. “Australia’s relationship with the Pacific is profoundly important and our sporting ties are unique."
The final legal documents to ratify the team’s creation are expected to be signed in the coming weeks.
The as-yet-unnamed team is seen as key diplomatic tool for Australia to strengthen ties in the hotly-contested Pacific, particularly with increasing infrastructure efforts from China in the region, and will cost the Australian taxpayer 600 million Australian dollars ($380 million) over 10 years.
It will be either the NRL’s 18th or 19th franchise, pending further expansion plans into Perth, Western Australia.
Players will be granted tax incentives to relocate to PNG, and will live in a secure compound in the capital Port Moresby to be organized and funded by the PNG government. Recruitment of players is still two years away — league rules mean the new franchise will have to wait until November 2026 to begin approaching players on other NRL teams.
“This one team will be for one people, one country, one nation, a national unifier," PNG leader Marape said in a statement. “An NRL team for PNG is more than just sports — it is a national unification strategy."
Rugby league is a 13-man version of the 15-player sport of rugby union. League is played primarily in Australia, New Zealand, England and France but also is played in other countries such as the United States, Lebanon, which both have national teams, and other countries in the Pacific.
The 10-team Rugby League World Cup is scheduled to be played in Australia and Papua New Guinea in 2026. It was originally scheduled for France in 2025.
AP sports: https://apnews.com/sports
Papua New Guinea Prime Minister James Marape gestures during a press conference with Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese in Sydney, Australia, Thursday, Dec. 12, 2024. (AP Photo/Mark Baker)
An attendee records Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and Papua New Guinea Prime Minister James Marape speaking during a press conference in Sydney, Australia, Thursday, Dec. 12, 2024. (AP Photo/Mark Baker)
Papua New Guinea Prime Minister James Marape, left, gestures during a press conference with Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese in Sydney, Australia, Thursday, Dec. 12, 2024. (AP Photo/Mark Baker)
