Ye's Christian academy had empty windows because the rapper didn't like glass, ex-official claims in lawsuit
A former official and teacher who worked at two schools founded by Ye, the rapper formerly known as Kanye West, is suing the artist and his Christian academies, alleging in a lawsuit filed Thursday that they had dismal sanitation, electrical problems and windows and a skylight that were left empty because Ye allegedly didn’t like glass.
Isaiah Meadows, a former assistant principal at Yeezy Christian Academy, the predecessor to Donda Academy, said he was suspended and later fired after he complained about conditions at the Southern California schools.
The lawsuit, filed in Los Angeles County Superior Court, adds to a chorus of allegations against Ye and his pursuit of what the Donda Academy website describes as a “mission to provide the youth with the passion, purpose and spiritual foundations they need to thrive in tomorrow’s world.”
In a separate suit filed this year by the law firm that lodged Thursday’s complaint, two former teachers accused Ye and Donda Academy of wrongful termination, painting a troubling portrait of a school they say has no janitorial or medical staffs, rampant bullying and rules that appeared to ban the use of forks and clothes that weren't black or designed by Ye.
A third plaintiff was added to the suit last month.
“It is just absolutely egregious what is going on at this school,” Ron Zambrano, the lawyer representing plaintiffs in both lawsuits, said in a statement.
“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," Zambrano said.
Thursday’s suit, which Zambrano's firm provided to NBC News, claims breach of contract, alleging that after Meadows raised concerns about health, safety and other issues at the schools, he was suspended, his pay was docked and he was eventually fired.
Ye also failed to follow through on a promise that Yeezy Christian Academy officials would pay Meadows’ rent, the suit alleges, leaving him to pay tens of thousands of dollars for the home he had rented in Calabasas, about 30 miles northwest of downtown Los Angeles.
The suit names as defendants Ye, Donda Academy and Yeezy Christian Academy, where Meadows said he began working as a full-time employee in late 2020, as well as officials of both schools.
The Yeezy Christian Academy campus had no hot water and a skylight without glass, a septic tank that repeatedly overflowed and such poorly done wiring that an electrical fire started near the student eating area, the suit alleges.
When the school became Donda Academy and moved to another location in Simi Valley in August 2021, Meadows worked as a teacher’s assistant and taught faith and physical education, according to the suit.
In the first few months of school, the new campus had no electricity, so lessons were taught using commercial flood lamps powered by a generator, the suit alleges. No glass was installed in the windows, though mesh curtains were added eventually, and, as with the first campus, the school’s septic tank often overflowed, according to the suit.
At both schools, the suit says, Meadows complained to Ye and a former administrator. He was fired without explanation in August, two weeks before the fall semester was to begin, according to the suit.
“Plaintiff MEADOWS is informed and believes he was terminated by Defendants as a result of him bringing up concerns about school operations and about wage” violations, the suit says.
The complaint doesn’t specify how much Meadows is seeking. It says he wants damages for unpaid wages, loss of earnings and emotional distress, among other things.
A lawyer for Donda hasn’t responded to requests for comment on the lawsuits, including a request Wednesday. Representatives and lawyers for Ye also didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment.
A lawyer for Ye, Gregory Suhr, has denied allegations made by the former teachers, saying depictions of Donda Academy as a “dystopian institution designed to satisfy Ye’s idiosyncrasies” were false.
“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,” Suhr said in a filing last week in Los Angeles County Superior Court.
Suhr has asked the judge to dismiss the claims.
Lawyers for the school have described the former teachers' suit as "fatally uncertain, ambiguous, and unintelligible."
This article was originally published on NBCNews.com
