Alanis Morissette has had a pretty quiet 2014 thus far but unfortunately a lawsuit involving her pet dog and a former housekeeper has become a bit of a, shall we say, circus.
TMZ reports Morissette and her husband Mario Treadway have filed a lawsuit in Los Angeles County Superior Court claiming a dog the couple found in May 2011 was taken by their housekeeper, er, "house manager," Maria Garcia. In fact, the couple are asking for over $25,000 in damages from Garcia as well as the dog returned to them.
The suit claims the couple found the 10-pound Chihuahua-Pug mix roaming the streets. Treadway says the couple took the dog to an animal shelter but nobody went to the shelter to claim it as their own. It was then that Morissette and Treadway adopted the dog and named it Circus.
When the couple fired Garcia in January, 2014 the housekeeper demanded the dog as part of her severance. The couple claim Garcia kept the dog and effectively refused to give it back to them. Meanwhile, Garcia -- who looked after the dog and tended to its needs while the couple were on tour -- claims she told the couple's business manager via email she would like "ownership" of Circus.
It's not the first time Morissette has had legal issues with household help. As reported last September Bianca Cambeiro filed a suit in Los Angeles Superior Court against Morissette and Treadway. Cambeiro -- who was hired in August, 2011 and let go in March, 2013 -- claimed she was never paid overtime or given breaks while caring for the couple's son Ever during 12-hour overnight shifts. The nanny also claimed she wasn't permitted to leave the child's bedroom while the child slept unless a parent was there or the other nanny arrived. Cambeiro was seeking at least $100,000 in damages for lost wages, health care expenses, pain and suffering and mental, physical and emotional injuries.
Morissette released her last studio album "Havoc And Bright Lights" back in 2012.
