Elizabeth Hurley Thinks Seeing Her Radiant Face Is Payment Enough for 70 Hour Work Weeks

We have often mentioned the inherent unfairness of movie stars (a.k.a. people who make millions of dollars to play dress up) getting tons of stuff for free. Wouldn't it make more sense for the people who make $6.25 an hour to be given Dolce & Gabbana gift bags? They'd probably even settle for fifteen minutes in an Old Navy gifting suite. But instead people like Elizabeth Hurley are given free diamonds and minks and Jimmy Choos just for entering a room. So not fair. And you know what else isn't fair? Elizabeth Hurley paying her maid $2.33 an hour. Did Liz at least pass along a couple of pairs of True Religion jeans she got in the gift bag at the Fool's Gold premiere? Page Six reports:

ELIZABETH Hurley and her husband, Arun Nayar, are multimillionaires many times over, but they're also accused of being skinflints - paying their Indian maid just $200 a week for endless hours of cooking, cleaning and baby-sitting, according to published reports.

Violet D'Souza, 31, accused the "Austin Powers" star and her spouse of forking over as little as $2.33 an hour for as many as 70 hours of work a week in the couple's fashionable Chelsea (London) home, Britain's Mirror and Daily Mail both reported. Adding insult to injury, they allegedly paid her in the Indian currency of rupees.

D'Souza was set to take her case to an employment tribunal today - but the hearing was canceled at the 11th hour late yesterday after the distressed domestic was offered a five-figure settlement, according to the newspapers.

Hurley's lawyer, Jake Bloom, had no comment for Page Six, and her agent, Allison Band, did not return our call.

The London reports say d'Souza worked up to seven days a week, with her chores starting at 7:30 a.m. and sometimes lasting until 3 the next morning, with Hurley and Nayar rewarding her with a weekly 8,000 rupees. The equivalent hourly rate worked out to between $2.72 and $3.10, but was sometimes as low as $2.33 if she worked lengthy hours. In Britain, the legal minimum wage is $10.71.

Hurley, 42, is believed to be worth $25 million from acting and modeling, while Nayar, 43, is an heir to a fabulously rich Indian textiles family in Mumbai. D'Souza is believed to have worked for the family before Nayar brought her to London in 2003. She brought an action of breach of contract after being dismissed by the couple last August.

A spokesman for Kingsway Tribunal Center, where the case was to be heard, said yesterday, "We can confirm that the claim has been withdrawn and the pre-hearing review has been canceled but cannot discuss the reasons."

Hurley, who wed Nayar last March, has a 5-year-old son by billionaire businessman Steve Bing named Damian, whose godparents include Elton John, Hugh Grant, Denis Leary, Victoria and David Beckham and the late Heath Ledger.

Maybe Elizabeth and Arun are heading toward the stereotype of the eccentric old rich couple who refuses to spend money on anything. Sure, they may look glamorous on the outside, what with their multiple weddings atop elephants and whatnot, but inside their home it's all Spam and Wonder Bread eaten from TV trays while they sit on their plastic-covered couch from the discount furniture store.

P.S. Please do yourself a favor and enlarge that picture of Liz and Damian and the other Little Lord Fauntleroys up there and take a gander. It will be time well spent.