Halsey Fights Ex-Nanny In Court Over Discrimination Allegations After Singer Accuses Employee Of Leaving Her Son Unattended While Intoxicated
Sep. 19 2022, Published 11:48 a.m. ET
Halsey demanded the discrimination lawsuit brought by an ex-nanny be thrown out of court weeks after allegations the employee left the singer’s son unattended while intoxicated, RadarOnline.com has learned
According to court documents obtained by RadarOnline.com, the 27-year-old singer has denied all allegations of wrongdoing in the lawsuit brought by her ex-nanny, Ashley Funches.
As RadarOnline.com previously reported, earlier this year, Halsey was sued by their ex-nanny for wrongful termination and discrimination. The nanny took care of the singer’s son Ender.
Funches said she was let go after taking time off for a medical emergency. The nanny and her lawyer said the decision was “illegal.” After the lawsuit was filed, Halsey came out swinging and said the real reason Funches was fired was because she left Ender unattended while intoxicated.
In her court response, Halsey has continued to fight the allegations. The singer argued that the conduct was made in good faith without malice.
Further, Halsey said the actions taken were “justified as such activities were proper, fair, and legitimate business activities and/or due to business-related reasons which were neither arbitrary, capricious, nor unlawful.”
The singer said they maintained “and enforced a strict anti-harassment, anti-discrimination, and anti-retaliation policy during the time in which [Funches] alleges discrimination/harassment.”
Further, Halsey said the nanny was not personally employed by them.
Her lawyer added, “[Funches’] claims of disability discrimination are barred because [Funches] was not able to perform the essential functions of the position or any open positions for which [Funches] was qualified with or without a reasonable accommodation.”
Halsey’s lawyer said the singer and their companies “were not obligated to provide a reasonable accommodation beyond that which was given to [Funches] because doing so would cause undue hardship on [Halsey].
As RadarOnline.com previously reported, in her suit, Funches said she was hired in 2021 to work as a “live-in personal attendant for” Halsey’s newborn son Ender. She was paid every two weeks and her duties included, “caring for the child, preparing meals, cleaning, laundry, cleaning breast pump materials, organizing the nursery, and running errands as needed."
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Funches said she “worked around the clock” with “little to no day of rest.”
The ex-nanny said she complained about not being paid overtime wages and then was sent a $5k lump sum without explanation.
Later, on March 16, 2022, Funches said she texted the singer to inform the singer she had to take days off for a procedure. A few days later, the employee said she was fired. She believed it to be in retaliation for her complaining about her pay and the request for time off.
The woman sued for unspecified damages.
After the lawsuit was filed, Halsey and their team called the allegations and claimed Funches had left the kid unsupervised in an unsafe location while intoxicated.
Her rep said, “This individual’s employment was recently terminated in response to specific incidents in which Halsey’s infant was left unsupervised in an unsafe location while under the nanny’s care, and it was discovered the nanny was intoxicated while the child was in her care.”
Halsey said she was “saddened and disappointed” by the lawsuit and felt it important to “refute” the claims.
“[Halsey takes] ableism and ethical working conditions very seriously,” her rep said. “Halsey wants to be absolutely clear that they remain a vocal advocate both against ableism and for ethical working conditions.