LOS ANGELES (CN) - A cook says a Saudi Arabian prince fired him for complaining that he had to work more than 12 hours a day seven days a week without overtime pay at the prince's Beverly Hills estate. Pedro Gomez sued Prince Saud Bin Faisal Bin Abdul Aziz al Saud in Superior Court.
Gomes says he cooked for the prince and his wife and children from 1999 to 2007. The prince, also known as Prince Saud Al Faisal, has been foreign minister of Saudi Arabia since 1975, and is a son of the late Saudi king, Faisal bin Abdul Aziz.
Gomez says he cooked breakfast, lunch and dinner for about 30 people a day, 13 to 14 hours a day, seven days a week without overtime pay.
He says he was denied meal breaks and rest periods, and that the prince failed to deduct payroll taxes, report withholdings or provide workers with W-2 forms.
"As Foreign Minister of Saudi Arabia, Prince Saud is responsible ... for diplomatic relations between Saudi Arabia and the United States," the lawsuit states. "However, Prince Saud and defendants' activities in their Beverly Hills palatial estate are far from diplomatic."
Gomez says was fired in March this year for complaining about the conditions, and that the prince withheld pay he had earned.
He seeks compensatory and punitive damages, restitution and back pay. He is represented by Keith Fink.
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