Kanye West is facing legal action after a former employee of his private school in California alleged that he was fired after reporting unsafe conditions in the school.
Ye, as the rapper now goes by, was named as a defendant in a lawsuit by former employee Isaiah Meadows of the Yeezy Christian Academy, a private Christian school started by Ye, according to the lawsuit shared with the Guardian.
According to the lawsuit filed in the Los Angeles county superior court, Meadows alleges that he was fired in retaliation for raising questions about safety issues at the school, which later became Donda Academy.
Meadows began working at the school as an assistant principal in 2020, making $18,400 a month. Meadows alleges he was promised rental assistance to afford a house closer to the school, in Calabasas.
But Meadows alleged that only the first three months of his rent were paid. Meadows said his rental assistance was terminated and he was suspended from his position after raising concerns about the school’s operations.
Overall, Meadows said that he spent upwards of $60,000 to cover the remainder of his rent.
During his tenure as assistant principal, Meadows said he notified school officials about numerous health and safety issues.
In the lawsuit, Meadows said that the school’s main classroom did not have glass in its skylight “because [Ye] expressed that he did not like glass”. Water poured into the classroom and caused a moldy smell to linger, claimed Meadows.
Meadows alleged that poor electrical wiring at Yeezy Christian Academy caused “an electrical fire started near the student eating area”. The non-accredited school also lacked hot water and had issues with its septic tank, which would “overflow every other day, causing a terrible smell”, the suit said.
Meadows was later reinstated, but was not hired back as an assistant principal, instead being demoted.
The school transitioned into Donda Academy and changed locations. But problems persisted, Meadows alleged.
Despite charging $15,000 a year, Donda Academy did not have electricity for its first few months of operation, Meadows claimed. Instructors were forced to teach “under commercial flood lamps, powered by a generator”.
The school also lacked glass in its windows, “leaving the interior of the building exposed to the elements, again, because [Ye] did not like glass”, Meadows claimed. Donda Academy also had similar problems with its septic tank.
In August 2022, two weeks before Academy’s fall semester began, Meadows was terminated and told he would not be returning.
In the suit, Meadows alleges that he was retaliated against and not paid properly.
“It is just absolutely egregious what is going on at this school,” said Ron Zambrano, an attorney representing Meadows and other plaintiffs filing complaints against Ye.
Donda Academy closed in 2022, amid controversy surrounding a slew of antisemitic remarks made by Ye. School officials said they planned to reopen in September 2023.
A representative of Ye could not be immediately reached for comment.
