Former servants sue Kissinger's brother
Two people who say they were domestic employees of the family of Henry Kissinger's younger brother say they worked for a decade with no pay and are suing for almost $1 million in compensatory damages.
Kevin and Elizabeth Cogan also are seeking an unnamed amount of compensatory damages for their time with the family of Walter Kissinger at his family's four-acre estate in Huntington Bay, N.Y., on Long Island. The details come from the pages of a civil action filed with the United States District Court in the Eastern District of New York.
The couple's lawyer, Michael Amato, could not be reached Thursday night. The lawyer for the Kissinger family could not be determined.
Walter Kissinger, 91 years old and living in California, told the New York Post that the lawsuit was "outrageous."
He added, "We had a relationship with them where they took care of our property as contractors."
The Cogans said they accepted domestic posts with the Kissingers in November 2007 and moved into a guest house on the property. The residence was inadequate, according to the lawsuit, and included toilets and plumbing that were sometimes inoperable, as well as mold infestation.
The Cogans said in the lawsuit that the their duties included a range of indoor and outdoor jobs, including groundskeeping, repairs, hanging Christmas decorations, taking care of the dogs, performing personal assistance duties and chauffeuring Kissinger family members.
The only time they received any compensation for their work was a period from September through December 2012 when Elizabeth Kogan served as a home health aide to Eugenie Kissinger, and a time from April through June 2014 when Elizabeth Cogan cared for Walter Kissinger, the lawsuit alleged.
Aside from receiving little pay, "Elizabeth Cogan's work responsibilities were unpredictable, and any personal time afforded her of relatively short duration, such that plaintiff was not free to use that time effectively for her own purposes," the lawsuit said.
Henry Kissinger, 92, served as U.S. secretary of state under presidents Richard Nixon and Gerald Ford.