“The Real Housewives of Atlanta” Season 9 aired its 9th episode last night (January 8) and, truth be told, it finally caught our attention. Why? Because Kandi Burruss is in middle of a lawsuit by a former employee, and her now arch-nemesis Phaedra Parks is slightly in the middle of the mess.

During a heart-to-heart discussion with her husband Todd about a conversation she previously had with Sheree Whitfield and Porsha Williams at El Julio’s on Peachtree Street, Kandi became upset about an Instagram post by her former employee Johnnie. The post was a picture taken at the Kandi Factory and his caption implied that Kandi was “fake.”

Johnnie had been fired from his full-time job at the Kandi Factory, however, still working on an as-needed/per event basis. Kandi wasted no time at the next event to confront Johnnie about the shady Instagram post. Johnnie told Kandi that he didn’t like the way his firing was handled and that the two should have sat down to discuss it first. Also, Johnnie was frustrated at the amount of pay he was given each week, despite the number of hours he put in. Kandi then spazzed out and shouted…

“Now you can call me a b**ch, you can call me an a**hole but to call me motherf**king fake is just wrong, okay?! So I’m going to take my fake money and not worry about paying you fake money no more. Let this be your last fake check you gotta get from me, okay?! Goodbye.”

Johnnie then heads to the law office of Pheadra Parks to see if he can file a lawsuit against Kandi. He explained what he was being paid (which he says was $500 with no benefits and for 80 or more a week) to Phaedra, in which she implied that Kandi was running a “factory,” a “plantation.” LOL

To bad, Phaedra wasn’t able to take Johnnie’s case because she doesn’t deal in employment law. However, Phaedra did refer Johnnie to another attorney.

Kandi took to Twitter to expand a bit on Johnnie’s allegations about working 80 hours a week:

She also confirms that the lawsuit is still ongoing.

What we don’t understand about this ordeal is 1) how was Johnnie working 80 hours per week? and 2) if he didn’t like the pay, why did he continue to work for Kandi for several years?

Now, Georgia is an at-will state, which means an employer does not have to give you an explanation as to why they are firing you. However, their are employment laws in place that does protect employees when it comes to unfair employment practices. If Johnnie was indeed working, doing other random tasks for Kandi that were outside the scope of his contracted job function, then he may have a case against her for unpaid wages. He will indeed need to have his work hours documented and any other receipts on deck if hopes to win the lawsuit.

To watch full episode, visit www.bravotv.com.

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