The lawsuit comes nearly four months after the ex-nanny made startling allegations.
Jason Sudeikis and Olivia Wilde's former nanny has filed a lawsuit against the former couple, alleging they subjected her to unbearable stress and anxiety before abruptly firing her when she needed a 72-hour break from the emotional chaos she says their split created for her.
According to legal documents, obtained by ET, Ericka Genaro claims the couple retaliated against her and fired her "because of her disability of anxiety/depression, and for seeking the reasonable accommodation of a three-day leave of absence" at the request of her doctor.
ET reached out to reps for Sudeikis and Wilde, who directed the inquiry to a joint statement the former couple released back in October following Genaro's "false and scurrilous accusations" against them in an interview with The Daily Mail.
A source close to the former couple tells ET, "Genaro has developed a pattern to try and score both fame and money ... and this is just another avenue she's trying in order to get paid."
According to the legal documents, filed Tuesday in Los Angeles County Superior Court, Genaro says she was hired in 2018 but things went south approximately two years later after Wilde abruptly moved out. This, Genaro claimed, left Sudeikis in a desperate emotional state and he would lean on Genaro for support as he tried to balance caring for the former couple's two children -- Otis, 8, and Daisy, 6.
After Wilde moved out of the home, Genaro claims she was forced to take on more work in Wilde's absence, increasing her role in the children's lives, including working weekends when she was normally scheduled off. Genaro added that the emotional stress/anxiety from her conversations with Sudeikis allegedly took an emotional toll on her and caused her to "pick sides."
Genaro claims that by late November 2020, her anxiety from the situation in the Wilde-Sudeikis household became close to unbearable.
"Believing that Wilde would be a reliable listening ear considering [Genaro] was the primary caretaker of her children, [Genaro] made arrangements to meet Wilde in Palm Springs, California, where Wilde was working. During this meeting, in retrospect naively, [Genaro] confided in Wilde how [Genaro] is becoming anxious and stressed with the situation in the home because of Wilde's absence and Sudeikis' late-night conversations regarding Wilde's absence. [Genaro] felt a genuine sense of relief and [camaraderie] with Wilde, who reacted sympathetically from [Genaro's] point of view – [Genaro] thought she got enough off her chest to be able to function without anxiety as the live-in nanny for Wilde's and Sudeikis' children, with Wilde as a reliable ear," the lawsuit claims.
The following month, in December 2020, Genaro says she was traveling by car to the airport with Sudeikis when she claims he told her that Wilde shared with him the entire conversation she had with Wilde in Palm Springs. Genaro says she was "stunned" and that "her heart sank because of its significance -- there was no peace when confiding in Wilde."
Genaro claims her stress and anxiety worsened from that point forward, and things didn't get any better when "news of Wilde's and Sudeikis' split had hit the media/tabloids, which ratcheted up the intensity of the situation" for Genaro as a live-in nanny. Genaro claims she sought therapy and that, "recognizing the emotional toll the situation was having, Sudeikis and Wilde agreed to engage in group therapy with [Genaro] via both remote sessions and group text messages."
Genaro claims that in January 2021, she notified Sudeikis of her physical pain, anxiety and stress, which led to her being treated by an osteopath for these symptoms. The osteopath, Genaro says, concluded in February 2021 that she should no longer work for Sudeikis and Wilde for her own health. She says she offered to stay for as long as another five months "so that a suitable nanny is found to help with the transition for the good of the kids."
She claims Sudeikis reacted to this verbal notice as "tempered." The next day, on Feb. 2, 2021, Genaro says she sought treatment from the osteopath, who prescribed her the restriction of "radio silence" from everyone, including Sudeikis, for three days to address her mental health and stress.
Genaro claims "the osteopath relayed this restriction to the therapist who relayed them to Sudeikis. Rather than honor the restriction of a three day leave of absence from the osteopath, within hours, Sudeikis demanded to speak with [Genaro] immediately. When [Genaro] responded she is under the osteopath's orders not to speak with anyone because of her anxiety, Sudeikis terminated her on the spot, and directed [the nanny services company ML Management, LLC] to get [Genaro] out of his house and into a hotel. [Genaro] reached out to Wilde for support in an attempt [to get help] to merely have her restrictions honored, to no avail."
Genaro is suing for wrongful termination, damages, loss of earnings, deferred compensation, and other employment benefits.
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