In a lawsuit filed in Los Angeles on Tuesday, Erlinda Elemen claims the actress equated being Filipino with being stupid and ordered her not to speak in front of her children so that they would "not talk like you".

The Basic Instinct star also banned Elemen, who was dismissed last year, from reading the Bible in Stone's home, even though she lived with her to look after the actress's three children and frequently travelled with them.

Elemen "was subjected to repeated derogatory comments and slurs by [Stone] related to her Filipino ethnicity and heritage" from August 2010, said the nanny's 17-page affidavit.

"These statements included ... comments about the plaintiff's Filipino accent, comments about Filipino food, and comments which equated being Filipino with being stupid."

Stone "was repeatedly verbally dismissive of the plaintiff's deeply held religious beliefs, criticised the plaintiff for frequently attending church and, on one occasion, forbade the plaintiff from reading the Bible ".

Elemen, who was hired in October 2006 and was promoted to head live-in nanny two years later, was dismissed in February last year, after Stone learned that she was paid overtime when travelling with the children and on holidays.

Stone told her nanny that she had no right to overtime pay and "accused the plaintiff of 'stealing' from her by taking the ... overtime pay, told the plaintiff that it was 'illegal' ... to have taken the pay and asked for the money back".

The lawsuit asks for an unspecified amount for unpaid wages, damages and penalties.

There was no immediate response from Stone's publicist.

Stone was ordered to pay $232000 in compensation to a worker who injured his knee after slipping and falling in her back yard in 2006.