
One employee of Harpo, Winfrey's production company, recently filed for 800 hours of overtime that she claims she put in between January and April of 2007, Page Six reports. The tab for such a claim is worth an extra $65,000.
Oprah Winfrey is known for her generosity, but new reports of a payroll scandal have some hinting that she's playing favorites with people's paychecks.
A Page Six source says that the Harpo employee, Carla Bird, filed the claim recently, and that "several weeks ago, it was discovered by accounting and human resources." The source goes on to say "most employees would have been walked right out the door. Well, that's just not the case for good ol' 'Birdie.' "
But as ludicrous as the hour tally may sound for just four months, Harpo's chief of communications says the claim is legitimate.
"Many of our employees contribute significant hours of overtime during our production season. This is quite common within the television industry," Lisa Halliday told Page Six. "From January to April 2007, this employee legitimately accumulated approximately 800 hours of overtime."
Page Six's math estimates that if Bird worked a five-day week, she would have been putting in 18.5 hours of work each day. If she'd chosen a seven-day work week, it would be a paltry 13.2 hours per day.
"Our employees' schedules vary," Halliday said. "Some of our staff does work the first week of January - as Carla did this year. Based on 800 hours of OT, for the 17-week period, with a seven-day work week - she would average just under 12.5 hours a day."