Back in April, we told you about the wrongful termination suit filed against Ye (the artist formerly known as Kanye West) and his private Christian school Donda Academy, brought on by a former teacher. Now it appears the rapper and his school are facing yet another lawsuit of the same name.
Per court documents filed on Thursday provided to The Root, Isaiah Meadows—who was initially hired on as an assistant principal for the first iteration of the school (which went by the name Yeezy Christian Academy) before transitioning to a TA, P.E. and faith teacher at Donda—is alleging wrongful termination, breach of contract and violations of multiple education, health, safety and labor codes. Meadows also alleged that he was fired in retaliation after reporting numerous safety issues that included faulty electrical wiring in the school that once started a fire near where students eat, an overflowing septic tank, no glass in building windows, and more.
“It is just absolutely egregious what is going on at this school,” said Meadows’ attorney Ron Zambrano. “The unlawful and retaliatory behavior by Mr. West and the school directors have now been documented multiple times by other former employees who never even worked together but all experienced the same horrendous treatment and witnessed the same serious health, safety and education code violations, while all were subjected to the same fate - wrongful termination - and we plan to hold them accountable.”
The suit further expounded: “Defendants intentionally terminated Plaintiff with the intent of punishing him for engaging in a protected activity, and in doing so, Defendants acted maliciously, fraudulently and oppressively, with the wrongful intention of injuring Plaintiff.”
Additionally, Meadows alleged that he misclassified as an independent contractor instead a full-time employee and consequently “was not reimbursed for out-of-pocket work-related expenses” nor was he “provided accurate wage statements and was not paid timely.”
If this story sounds vaguely familiar, it’s probably because it rings similarly close to the wrongful termination Yeezy and his school are facing from former teacher Cecilia Hailey and daughter/fellow plaintiff Chekarey Byers. As previously reported by The Root, they’re suing on the grounds that they were let go from their positions as teachers back in March “in retaliation for reporting code violations.” They also claim that they were “discriminated against based on their race and illegally had wages withheld or were repeatedly improperly paid.”