JK Rowling Sues Her Former Assistant

'Harry Potter' author says woman used business credit card to buy stuff for herself, including cats
By Evann Gastaldo,  Newser Staff
Posted Nov 8, 2018 12:38 PM CST
JK Rowling Sues Her Former Assistant
Author JK Rowling attends the "Harry Potter and the Cursed Child" Broadway opening at the Lyric Theatre on April 22, 2018, in New York.   (Photo by Evan Agostini/Invision/AP)

A woman who worked as JK Rowling's personal assistant for more than three years allegedly used a business credit card issued to her by the Harry Potter author to buy stuff for herself—lots of stuff. In a new lawsuit against Amanda Donaldson, Rowling says her former employee benefited to the tune of more than $31,000 by charging all sorts of things to the credit card—including nearly $2,000 at a luxury candle company, nearly $5,000 at a cosmetics store, and more than $2,000 at Starbucks—plus helping herself to Harry Potter merchandise. Rowling is suing Donaldson, who was fired in April 2017 after spending discrepancies were uncovered, for more than $31,000, the BBC reports. Per the Sun, Rowling's husband helped to uncover the alleged misdeeds.

In addition to the allegedly unauthorized "business" expenses, which also included $2,800 at a stationery store and more than $1,000 at a bakery, Rowling says Donaldson was in charge of handling memorabilia requests from fans—and that she used that role to snag items including a "Harry Potter Wizard Collection" worth nearly $3,000 without Rowling's "knowledge or consent." Perhaps the oddest expense of all: Donaldson allegedly spent more than $1,500 on two cats. She's also alleged to have taken more than $10,000 in cold hard cash, most of it from a safe she had access to. Donaldson, 35, has denied the allegations and has claimed Rowling has "not suffered any loss and is not entitled to damages." (When Harry Potter and philosophy class merge.)

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