Kanye West’s Donda Academy Denies Causing Ex-Teachers Emotional Distress, Demand Judge Toss Racial Discrimination Suit
West has allegedly only met his in-laws one time during a trip to Japan.
Dec. 7 2023, Published 10:36 a.m. ET
Kanye West’s Donda Academy demanded the lawsuit brought by 2 former teachers over alleged racial discrimination be thrown out of court.
According to court documents obtained by RadarOnline.com, a lawyer for Donda Academy, the private school founded by West in 2022, demanded all claims be thrown out in the case filed by Cecilia Hailey and Chekarey Byers.
As we previously reported, Hailey and Byers said they were the only black teachers at the academy. The two said they were fired after raising several concerns about alleged health and safety violations.
The musician said he did not have a role in the day-to-day operations of the school.
The teachers claimed the school did not train teachers on basic life support training, did not have a proper disciplinary system, and had no janitor or school nurse.
Hailey and Byers claimed West only allowed the students to eat sushi at lunch, didn’t allow chairs, and had classes on the first floor because the musician was allegedly afraid of stairs.
Trevor Phillips claimed Kanye "treated the black staff considerably worse than white employees."
The duo said they were labeled “aggressive” for asking questions about school procedures and policies.
Hailey and Byers “believe this type of comment facilitates stereotypes about African-American women as being confrontational simply for doing their job and voicing their legitimate concerns in order to provide a safe environment and proper education for their students,” the suit read.
The suit said the teachers were fired in March 2023 without any justification provided.
The Donda Academy.
Hailey and Byers said they experienced emotional distress over the situation and demanded unspecified damages in their lawsuit.
Now, in a newly filed response, Donda Academy denied all allegations of wrongdoing and asked the court to dismiss the entire suit.
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The school argued the teachers failed to “exhaust administrative remedies and/or internal grievance procedures.”
In addition, “To the extent Plaintiffs suffered any symptoms of mental or emotional distress or injury, they were the result of a pre-existing psychological disorder or alternative concurrent cause, and not the result of any act or omission of Defendant."
Kanye still faces a $2 million lawsuit brought by The Gap.
Donda Academy denied it discriminated against the teachers and said “there existed legitimate, non-discriminatory, and non-retaliatory reasons for the alleged acts of [Donda] of which Plaintiffs complain.”
Further, “Even if there was discrimination against Plaintiffs (which Defendant denies), Plaintiffs would have been terminated anyway.”
As RadarOnline.com first reported, earlier this week, West asked for all claims against him personally to be dismissed. He argued he had no role in the day-to-day operations of Donda and was not responsible for paying or terminating teachers.
“The truth is, while Donda Academy was in operation as a school, Ye had nothing to do with Donda’s policies, practices, operations, and procedures relating to the payment of employee wages upon termination of employment or the content or timing of employee wage statements. Plaintiffs know that,” his lawyer wrote.
A judge has yet to rule.
On top of that, Kanye is also being sued for $1 million by an ex-employee.
On top of the battle with the teachers, Kanye is fighting a $2 million lawsuit brought by his ex-business partners at The Gap and another $1 million suit filed by his ex-security guard.