Ex-NBA Star Dwight Howard's Court Battle With 2 Women Hired to Care for His Giant Snakes Dropped Weeks After They Demanded He Be Found in Contempt
Aug. 15 2023, Published 5:00 a.m. ET
Ex-NBA star Dwight Howard has one less legal issue to worry about a lawsuit brought by 2 women who claimed he stiffed them on pay was dismissed, RadarOnline.com has learned.
According to court documents obtained by RadarOnline.com, earlier this month, Armica Nabaa and Kamisha Shelman, have dropped all claims against Howard.
In 2020, the two sued the basketball star for $50k in alleged unpaid wages. The women said they were hired in December 2018 to work at Howard’s Atlanta compound.
In their lawsuit, the women said they were to provide personal management services to Howard. Nabaa and Shelman said they believed the job duties would include handling Howard’s business and financial affairs.
However, they claimed to have quickly learned Howard had other plans. In the suit, the women said after they were hired, Howard fired his groundskeeper, butler, and maid.
As a result, he allegedly expected them to take on the tasks the terminated employees had covered. One job the women were expected to handle included taking care of Howard’s exotic snake collection.
The plaintiffs said the ex-NBA star’s collection was “comprised of a number of large snakes” including a constrictor named Cleopatra.
The women said they were abruptly fired in January 2020. To make matters worse, they claimed Howard refused to pay them outstanding wages owed.
In court documents, Nabaa even claimed she helped Howard make a comeback in the NBA by using her "network and contacts to connect Mr. Howard with individuals that resulted in his lucrative and unexpected contract with the Los Angeles Lakers."
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Howard denied all allegations of wrongdoing and asked for the lawsuit to be dismissed. The case dragged on for years with both sides accusing the other of playing dirty.
Back in December 2022, the women asked the judge to find Howard in contempt of court. They accused him of refusing to sit for a deposition despite being ordered to do so.
“Notwithstanding the Court’s clear order, instruction, and guidance, Defendant Howard has unbelievably skipped out on a second deposition — the very deposition ordered by this Court,” the motion read.
A lawyer for the women trashed Howard’s actions writing, “Defendant Howard does not (because he cannot) provide any reasonable or justifiable basis for his repeat refusal to participate in the discovery process and abide by the orders of this Court. As a National Basketball Association (“NBA”) superstar, Defendant Howard apparently believes he can thumb his nose at this Court’s authority’s and decide when, and if, he participates in the discovery process.”
He added, “Plaintiffs believe Defendant Howard is emboldened to treat the Civil Practice Act and this Court dismissively due to some misguided belief that his non-participation can be easily corrected by paying a fine that is, relative to his income, a mere pittance.”
The issue became irrelevant after the parties reached a deal to drop the case.
As RadarOnline.com first reported, earlier this month, Howard was hit with a separate lawsuit by a man he allegedly met on Instagram. In the lawsuit, the man claimed Howard assaulted him and forced him to partake in a threesome.