The Illinois Department of Labor is investigating a claim R. Kelly’s brother made against the Chicago-area singer over wages.
TMZ reported Thursday that R. Kelly’s brother Bruce Kelly said he was not paid wages after he was hired in March as the singer’s personal assistant and driver.
Bruce Kelly told TMZ the brothers had a verbal agreement that Bruce Kelly would receive $700 a week. Bruce Kelly filed a claim with the state, saying he is owed $11,000 in back pay and is not working for nobody, not even his brother, for free.
The department confirmed the claim, filed June 23, but would not release details except that the complaint is for unpaid regular and overtime wages.
The complaint you’re referencing is still under investigation, we can’t share the details of the case until it is closed. I can confirm however that we are in receipt of the claim, department spokeswoman Leili Doerr said in an email to the Tribune.
Doerr said once a complaint is filed with the labor department, the department contacts the employer regarding the claim. The employer has 20 business days to respond to the complaint by either paying the wages or disputing the claim. If there’s a dispute, a hearing is scheduled with an administrative law judge.
Doerr said she could not comment on whether R. Kelly has responded to the claim. Doerr said no other complaints have been filed with the labor department against R. Kelly, whose full name is Robert Sylvester Kelly.
Bruce Kelly and R. Kelly’s management team did not respond to Tribune requests for comment.
Bruce Kelly wrote Thursday on his Facebook page, i can’t believe this is what I have to resort to to get paid from my own Brother. I know my mother is turning over in her grave!! this is not how joann kelly raised us. what’s wrong with paying your brother what you owe him. you pay everybody else!!
R. Kelly is no stranger to legal troubles. He was sued by his former business manager last year over allegedly failing to make monthly payments agreed upon in a settlement. He was acquitted of child pornography charges by a Cook County jury in 2008.
His next concert is scheduled in a week at Foxwoods Casino in Connecticut.
