The former nanny of Olivia Wilde and Jason Sudeikis has sued the pair for wrongful termination amid claims she suffered from depression and anxiety due to the “emotional chaos” of their breakup.
Ericka Genaro, who began working for the Booksmart director and the Ted Lasso star in 2018, filed the lawsuit in Los Angeles County Superior Court on Tuesday 14 February. She alleged in the suit that the “toxic nature of the household” after their 2020 split led Genaro to suffer “severe emotional distress” and “debilitating anxiety,” according to The Daily Mail.
Genaro allegedly sought mental health treatment and was prescribed a “three-day medical leave of absence” by her physician. The lawsuit also claims Genaro was fired “on the spot” after informing Sudeikis of the doctor’s recommendation.
“Ms Wilde and Mr Sudeikis really stepped in it by firing my client when she needed a 72-hour break from the emotional chaos their split created, as prescribed by her physician,” said Ron Zambrano, Genaro’s attorney, in a statement. “Employees are most vulnerable when they need time off to care for themselves. Laws are in place for just that reason, to afford them peace of mind to take that time without fear of losing their jobs.”
The lawsuit claims that Sudeikis suffered a “meltdown” after Wilde abruptly moved out of their home in 2020, leaving Sudeikis “in a desperate emotional state” and “leaning on the presence of Plaintiff for support”.
“The subject matter of these late night conversations with Sudeikis naturally evolved into speaking about Wilde, which Plaintiff felt compelled to engage in despite creating extreme anxiety to her as she ostensibly felt she had to ‘pick sides’ between the parents of the children she was ostensibly the primary caretaker,” the lawsuit claims, per the Mail.
The lawsuit alleges that, in late November 2020, Genaro eventually engaged in a private conversation with Wilde about Sudeikis and that Wilde then relayed their exchange back to Sudeikis.
By January 2021, Sudeikis and Wilde agreed to enter group therapy with Genaro, who had already begun seeking treatment of her own. She allegedly told Sudeikis “of her physical pain, anxiety, and stress” and the group therapist referred Genaro to an osteopath.
The doctor recommended Genaro take a three-day medical leave of absence because of her mental health, and relayed this recommendation to Sudeikis.
“When Plaintiff responded she is under the osteopath’s orders to not speak with anyone because of her anxiety, Sudeikis terminated her on the spot and directed [ML Management] to get Plaintiff out of his house and into a hotel,” the lawsuit says.
“Plaintiff is informed and believes, and therein alleges, her termination was because of her disability of anxiety/depression, and for seeking the reasonable accommodation of a three-day leave of absence for same,” it claims.
Genaro is seeking damages for lost earnings and deferred compensation, among other losses of employment benefits.
In a statement to The Independent, a representative for Sudeikis reiterated a joint statement the pair made in October 2022 when an unnamed nanny made similar claims in a bombshell interview with The Daily Mail.
“As parents, it is incredibly upsetting to learn that a former nanny of our two young children would choose to make such false and scurrilous accusations about us publicly,” the joint statement read. “Her now 18-month-long campaign of harassing us, as well as loved ones, close friends and colleagues, has reached its unfortunate apex. We will continue to focus on raising and protecting our children with the sincere hope that she will now choose to leave our family alone.”
The wide-ranging interview included screenshots of alleged texts between the nanny and the celebrity couple. In one shocking claim, the nanny said that Sudeikis once “went outside and lay under [Wilde’s] car so she wouldn’t leave”.
Sudeikis and Wilde have made many headlines since announcing their split in November 2020 after nine years together. The former couple share two children: Otis, eight, and Daisy, six.
More recently, Wilde was famously linked to musician Harry Styles after she cast him in her film Don’t Worry Darling, which was released in September 2022. The pair made their first public appearance in January 2021 at a friend’s wedding, and Wilde became a regular attendee at Styles’ concerts.
Also notably, Wilde was served custody papers in April 2022 while on stage at CinemaCon as she promoted her new film. She later described the incident as “vicious” and “scary”.
