From April to June of this year, three former teachers at Donda Academy sued Kanye West on various grounds. First, two fired educators, and Black women, claimed that they were let go due to racial bias and called the institution "dystopian" and designed to please the artist's "idiosyncrasies." Moreover, the lawsuit also came against the school as a whole and three directors of it. In addition, they claimed that the firing came after they reported health code, education, and safety violations at the academy. Even though they raised issues to directors, Chekarey Byers and Cecilia Haley claim, they did nothing to resolve these issues.
Also, they alleged that teachers and students were barred from sitting in chairs, that students were forced to wear black head-to-toe, and based from wearing Nike or Adidas products. According to their suit, students could not leave the premises until the school day was completely over. "Throughout the entirety of Plaintiffs’ employment, the only lunch available for students was sushi, every single day," the suit read. "Students were not allowed to bring any outside food or anything other than water. It was widely known that Defendant West spends $10,000 a week on sushi." Another lawsuit from teacher Timanii Meeks claims that the school fired her after reporting that the school was unsafe.
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Furthermore, Kanye West denied all allegations and accused wrongdoing, and wants to see the case dismissed. "The truth is, Ye has nothing to do with Donda’s policies, practices, and procedures relating to employee pay and wage statements," court documents state. "Surely, Plaintiffs know that. But- as unfortunately is commonly the case for Ye, a famous artist and businessperson- in the present action, 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.
"Plaintiffs misleadingly depict the Donda Academy as a dystopian institution designed to satisfy Ye’s idiosyncrasies," it continued. "None of it is true and the allegations do a disservice to the Donda Academy’s current staff and students and their parents who will attest to their positive experience as this case proceeds." The same law firm represents all plaintiffs, and believes their dismissals to be "retaliatory." For more updates and the latest news on Kanye West, log back into HNHH.
