Ex-employees from Madonna's Raising Malawi charity sue over unpaid wages

Lilongwe, Malawi (AHN Entertainment) - Madonna's ex-employees from her now-defunct Raising Malawi Academy for Girls have filed a lawsuit against the pop superstar. The eight sacked workers are demanding their terminal benefits because they think they were let go without proper procedures.

View Photos [819]
View Profile
View All News

The music icon originally planned to build a school for 500 girls from poor backgrounds. But she realized that the academy "would not serve enough children in the country where 33 percent of Malawian girls attend secondary school," thus, she abandoned the plan, and instead decided on a "much bigger scale."

Last week, it was reported that the charity is undergoing an overhaul after its director allegedly squandered $3.8 million of the funds from donations meant to build a school in the African country.

Now, the charity's former employees are taking action against Madonna for their unpaid wages.

A court official was quoted by the Telegraph as saying, "The staff at Madonna's charity Raising Malawi accuse the singer of terminating their employment due to (a) change in strategy which had not been properly explained to them."

"The staff are demanding their terminal benefits because they think their employment was terminated without proper procedures."

Their lawyer, Mzondi Chirambo, told the New York Daily News, "We are claiming unpaid salary and benefits. The workers live here. The court will decide. It's not our policy to comment further."