Two former lecturers at Kanye West’s Donda Academy are suing the college, alleging labor violations along with restrictive and weird faculty guidelines for lecturers and college students.
Among different allegations, the lawsuit claims the youngsters had been solely allowed to eat sushi, the college had no janitorial companies, and West would not enable the lecturers or college students to put on any jewellery. The lecturers additionally allege the college didn’t meet Department of Education necessities or observe state rules, and lecturers weren’t required to have Basic Life Support certification or necessary reporting coaching.
The lawsuit was filed Thursday by third-grade instructor Cecilia Hailey and fifth-grade instructor Chekarey Byers, who each labored at Donda Academy from January to March 2023. On March 3, 2023, Hailey and Byers had been fired from Donda Academy and not using a purpose given to them, in response to the lawsuit, which is claiming a violation of the state’s labor code. They consider they had been fired in retaliation for complaining to the college’s administration.
Both lecturers say they complained about well being and security violations, together with an absence of disciplinary techniques. They allege within the lawsuit that their complaints weren’t taken significantly and that Donda Academy’s principal Moira Love referred to as two of them “aggressive.”
Hailey and Byers had been the one Black lecturers on the faculty, in response to the lawsuit. “I’m just tired of the rhetoric being that Black women who are competent are seen as aggressive,” Hailey mentioned in a press launch.
Donda Academy, in addition to a lawyer for West, didn’t instantly return BuzzFeed News’ request for remark.
Byers additionally claims within the lawsuit she by no means obtained her first paycheck and that her and Hailey’s paychecks would usually be quick $1,800 to $2,700 per pay interval.
“Kanye West is clearly as bad at running a school as he is at managing his own personal and professional life, enabling an unsafe and illegal school environment for students that also discriminated against the plaintiffs based on their race,” the plaintiffs’ lawyer, Ron Zambrano, mentioned in a press launch. “These egregious violations at Donda Academy are just another example of West’s unusual behavior, and our clients just won’t stand for it, no matter his celebrity status. Kanye needs to realize his genius is in creating music, not in school administration.”
West, who legally modified his identify to Ye in 2021, first opened Donda Academy in 2022 and now serves as its CEO, secretary, and CFO. Donda Academy is an unaccredited non-public Christian faculty for college kids in pre-kindergarten via twelfth grade.
The lawsuit additionally alleges quite a few strict and weird guidelines on the academy. No crossword puzzles or coloring sheets had been allowed, the lawsuit claims. There had been allegedly no courses on the second flooring as a result of West was afraid of stairs. Students weren’t allowed to make use of forks, and all cups and bowls had been required to be grey. No coloration or paintings was allegedly allowed within the lecture rooms, and college students had been required to put on black head-to-toe West-designed attire. Brands like Nike and Adidas had been prohibited, in response to the lawsuit.
West additionally did not enable any chairs within the faculty, the lawsuit claims, and youngsters needed to sit on foam cushions or stand whereas lecturers needed to stand or use a stool. Students allegedly needed to eat their lunch on the ground as a result of there weren’t any tables, and recess was indoors as a result of college students weren’t allowed to go exterior.
“I’m extremely sad about all of this,” Byers said in a news release. “It was such a huge honor and privilege to work at Donda Academy for Kanye West. I’m a huge Kanye fan. His first album was the first I ever purchased. I still enjoy his music, and I’ll never deny his talent, but while his vision for the school sounds great on paper, it’s just pure chaos and mutiny. It’s like a mental hospital being run by the patients.”
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