Writers To Joan Rivers Show: Pay Up

The writers of Fashion Police, which is co-hosted by Joan Rivers and produced by her daughter, Melissa, have filed a claim against against the  E! Network for $1M in back wages according to a complaint filed with the California Division of Labor Standards Enforcement.

The complainants say that "Fashion Police" ignores state laws that require an employer to pay hourly employees their regular wage rate for all time worked in an eight-hour period. In addiition, the law requires paying overtime for employment beyond eight hours in any workday or more than 40 hours in any workweek. "The most I've been paid for a show has been for eight hours of work," said writer Eliza Kinner in a release issued by the Writers Guild of America, West. "In reality, I put in anywhere from 12 to 32 additional hours on each show -- time I should have been compensated for.

The complaint has the backing of the Writers Guild.