LOS ANGELES (CN) — Ye, the recording artist and all-around eccentric person formerly known as Kanye West, scored a legal victory on Friday, as a Superior Court judge agreed to trim down a lawsuit against Donda Academy, his unaccredited private Christian school.
The ruling means that Ye could be removed as a defendant in the lawsuit — though the plaintiffs will have the opportunity to amend their complaint.
The lawsuit was filed in April 2023 by three former teachers at Donda Academy: Cecilia Hailey, Chekarey Byers and Timanii Meeks. They said they were the only Black women teachers at the Simi Valley school, and they accused the school of discriminating against them.
The teachers accused the school of various labor code violations, including untimely and inaccurate paychecks. They also said they were reprimanded and fired when they raised concerns about "sanitation, health, safety [and] education standards."
Their complaint offered a rare peek into the unusual K-12 school, where parents have to sign non-disclosure agreements before enrolling their children. Tuition at the school reportedly goes for $15,000 per year.
Students eat sushi for lunch every day, the teachers said in their complaint — adding that it was "widely known" that Ye himself spends $10,000 per week on sushi.
They said outside food is strictly forbidden, as are tables, chairs, crossword puzzles and coloring books. They said both students and teachers are required to wear all-black Balenciaga uniforms designed by Ye himself. Only Ye's "issued or designed apparel was allowed to be worn," while "Nike and Adidas brands were forbidden." Students are also not allowed outside or on the second floor of the school, they said, because Ye "was reportedly afraid of stairs."
West was named as a defendant in only two of the eight causes of actions. The rap star had repeatedly provided inaccurate and untimely wage statements and "should be held personally liable for the unpaid wages and waiting time penalties of Plaintiffs," the teachers aid.
Ye filed a demurrer, claiming he had nothing to do with "Donda’s policies, practices, operations, and procedures relating to the payment of employee wages upon termination of employment or the content or timing of employee wage statements." He said the claims against him were based on "a haphazard and barebones guilt-by-association theory."
In a tentative ruling later adopted as final, Superior Court Judge Robert Broadbelt agreed. He said the accusations in the complaint were insufficient to establish that Ye "was personally involved in the alleged wage and hour violations" or "had oversight of Donda Academy, Inc.’s operations or policy 'that resulted in' the alleged Labor Code violations."
The plaintiffs' attorney did not say anything during a short hearing on Friday. Ye's attorney, London Meservy, asked the judge to sustain the demurrer with prejudice, which would bar the teacher from filing an amended complaint to once again assert those claims against West.
"I would like to be able to put this matter behind my client," Meservy said. Nevertheless, Judge Broadbelt decided to allow the three teachers to refile their complaint.
Founded in 2022 and named after Ye's late mother, Donda Academy has been the target of at least three other lawsuits since the teachers' complaint was filed.
Perhaps the most eye-catching was filed by Trevor Phillips, who said he was initially hired to work on Ye's fashion line but soon found out that his work duties also included Donda Academy and other aspects of the controversial star's life and business.
In his own complaint, Phillips cited a number of bizarre and offensive comments Ye made to students and staff. "Phillips, on several occasions, witnessed Kanye preach to his staff obscenities such as 'the Jews are out to get me' and 'the Jews are stealing all my money,'" he wrote in his complaint. He said Ye also once told two students "he wanted them to shave their heads and that he intended to put a jail at the school — and that they could be locked in cages."
Donda has also been sued by a former assistant principal and by a former security guard. The assistant principal asserted labor violations, while the security guard said he was ordered "to use physical force to remove paparazzi from the direct vicinity of Kanye and those in his company."
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