LOS ANGELES (CNS) - Kanye West, who now goes by Ye, is seeking to be removed as a defendant in a suit filed by two former teachers at his Donda Academy who say they were fired earlier this year after complaining about work conditions and alleged wage violations.
Cecilia Hailey and Chekarey Byers are suing the 46-year-old rapper as well as the school and its directors. The plaintiffs say in the Los Angeles Superior Court suit that they were the Simi Valley school's only Black female teachers and allege that their wages were illegally withheld and that they were wrongfully fired in March.
In court papers filed Monday with Judge Robert B. Broadbelt, Ye's attorneys argue that the one cause of action pertaining to the singer, alleging a violation of the state Labor Code because Ye "engaged in a pattern and practice of continuously providing plaintiffs with inaccurate and untimely wage statements," should be dismissed in a hearing set for Jan 4.
"The truth is, Ye has nothing to do with Donda's policies, practices and procedures relating to employee pay and wage statements," Ye's lawyers argue in their court papers. "Surely, plaintiffs know that. But as unfortunately is commonly the case for Ye, a famous artist and businessperson, plaintiffs have haphazardly tossed a meritless and barebones guilt-by- association theory into their complaint to garner press attention and the resulting settlement pressure that comes with it."
The Donda Academy is a private Christian school in which Ye is its CEO. Hailey and Byers allege that their pay checks were untimely or inaccurate throughout their employment.
Byers alleges in the suit brought April 6 that she never received her first check. Both plaintiffs maintain that their pay was often short by about $1,800 to $2,700 per pay period. The teachers say they complained to Donda, that they were terminated in violation of the Labor Code and that they were not immediately paid wages due them upon termination.
The plaintiffs also alleged that the academy does not have a proper disciplinary system, allowing some students to be subjected to severe bullying. The also maintain the school has no cleaning staff because Ye does not believe in cleaning products containing chemicals, leaving teachers to clean with acid water and microfiber cloths.
The plaintiffs were in the academy's parking lot when they arrived to work March 3 that they were being terminated, the suit states.
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