Brazilian soccer star Neymar, who played for French professional soccer club Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) until early August, has been accused of illegally hiring a domestic worker and subjecting her to abusive work conditions.
According to French newspaper 온라인카지노 Le Parisien on Sunday, a Brazilian woman named Marcia (a pseudonym) filed a complaint with labor authorities alleging that Neymar illegally employed her from January 2021 to October 2022.
She is claiming a total of €368,000 ($500,000) in back wages and other benefits she was not entitled to, and is threatening legal action if Neymar’s camp does not respond.
Marcia, who is in the country illegally, claims she was first hired as a kitchen assistant by Neymar’s confidante Mauro in February 2019 when Neymar was preparing for a lavish birthday party at his home.
She claims that Mauro then asked her to “work for Neymar on a more regular basis” and that since January 2021, she has worked as a domestic helper at Neymar’s home, even doing the nails of his girlfriend, Bruna Biancardi.
He claims to have worked nine hours a day during the week, with an additional six hours of work on Friday and Saturday evenings, and seven hours on Sundays, with no days off or paid holidays. That’s well over the standard 40-hour work week for domestic workers.
Marcia claims she was paid 15 euros (about $2,400 at the time) per hour on weekdays and Fridays and Saturdays, and double that on Sundays, but was not paid extra for overtime.
In 2021, the minimum hourly wage in France was 8.11 euros (about $11) after taxes.
Marcia doesn’t have a payslip because she didn’t sign a formal employment contract, but she says she meticulously recorded her hours in a notebook.
She worked until early October of last year, when she was 10 days away from giving birth to her fourth child, and claims that after giving birth, she was not informed verbally that her contract had been terminated, but had no further contact with Neymar or his entourage.
“It is unacceptable for Neymar to take advantage of the vulnerability of an undocumented woman, even a fellow countrywoman,” Nelma Barretto, president of Resistance Women, an organization that helps victims like Marcia, told the Parisian.
Marcia’s lawyers said they sent a registered letter to Neymar in June, when he was in Paris, trying to settle the case amicably, but never received a response.
One of Neymar’s media representatives, De Crespo, declined to answer questions from the Parisian, saying, “We have not received any official information regarding this and Neymar has not been informed.”
Neymar, who joined PSG in 2017 and played six seasons with the club, left Paris in August this year to join Saudi Arabia’s Al-Hilal.