"Flip or Flop" stars Tarek and Christina El Moussa are being sued by a former employee, who claims he has not been paid for his work in finding homes for them to flip.
Jonathan Schmier, a former employee of the El Moussas' company Next Level Property Investments, decided to sue Tarek and Christina for failing to pay him for his work. Court documents obtained by TMZ reveal the pair was not able to pay Schmier for finding five houses for them to flip in North Carolina. Schmier had initially been promised a $5,000 commission per house and around $13,000 in back wages, but he said he never received any compensation from the company. Schmier is now seeking a total of $37,800 from the company.
"The Plaintiff worked for Next Level Property Investments finding homes for the Defendants Tarek and Christina El Moussa in NC from March of 2016 to October of 2016 and not one penny has been paid to the Plaintiff for the Plaintiffs [sic] work," reads the suit (via The Wrap).
Named as defendants in the suit are the El Moussas and their business partner Pete de Best, along with HGTV and its parent company Scripps Network. As Huffington Post points out, Schmier claimed in the documents that he reached out to Scripps' vice president of legal affairs. He also tried to bring up the payment issues with the other people involved but they refused to talk to him. An HGTV spokesperson confirmed the network is aware of the lawsuit, but did not offer any statement on the matter.
Tarek and Christina, who rose to popularity as the hosts of HGTV's remodeling show "Flip or Flip," gained more attention when they announced their divorce in December. The pair said their decision to file for divorce stemmed from a domestic incident back in May 2016 that involved a gun and the Orange County police.
The El Moussas' representatives have yet to comment on the issue.
