Kanye West’s Donda Academy Hit With Racial Discrimination Lawsuit, Ex-Teachers Claim Ye’s School Had No Janitor & Allowed Bullying
April 6 2023, Updated 1:43 p.m. ET
Two ex-employees of Kanye West’s private school have filed a shocking lawsuit accusing the disgraced mogul's company of racial discrimination, RadarOnline.com has learned.
According to court documents obtained by RadarOnline.com, Cecilia Hailey and Chekarey Byers are suing Donda Academy, West personally, and 3 of the school directors.
The suit accused the defendants of retaliation in violation of the labor code and discrimination based on race.
In the lawsuit, Hailey said in November 2022 she started working for Donda as a substitute teacher. She later worked as a third-grade teacher at the school.
Byers said she started work as a fifth-grade teacher in January 2023. The two said they were the only “African American Teachers” at Donda.
Hailey said she immediately noticed multiple health and safety violations, as well as unlawful educational practices at Donda. She said she brought this to one of the school’s directors on multiple occasions.
She said the school was not following state regulations and teachers were not trained or required to have Basic Life Support training.
Further, the two said they complained to the director about the lack of safety at the school. The suit claimed, “Specifically, they complained that DONDA ACADEMY does not have a proper disciplinary system, as students were being subject to severe bullying. In one incident, a student assaulted an eighth-grade student by slapping her, then attempted to assault another teacher. The student had multiple accounts of bullying, both physically and verbally, that had gone without discipline. However, there are several students with bullying issues that remain unaddressed. Plaintiff BYERS complained that the student who became violent should be expelled from DONDA ACADEMY.”
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A school believed to be a donda academy in Simi Valley
The teachers said the school did not have any janitorial services, a school nurse nor was it following nutrition guidelines.
“Defendant WEST did not believe in cleaning products containing chemicals, so teachers were only allowed to clean with acid water and microfiber cloths. There were no trash cans outside of the classrooms or the kitchen,” the suit said. “Additionally, throughout the entirety of Plaintiffs’ employment, the only lunch available for students was sushi, every single day. Students were not allowed to bring any outside food or anything other than water. It was widely known that Defendant WEST spends $10,000.00 a week on sushi.”
Further, the suit claimed “students were allowed to be picked up from the school campus by strangers, as there were no policies in place otherwise. Parents, children from other schools, and even random strangers could come and go at will without ever having to sign-in or sign-out or notify anyone.”
Other alleged rules that West put in place included no crossword puzzles or coloring sheets, no classes on the second floor because West “reportedly did not want children or staff to go upstairs since he was reportedly afraid of stairs,” all cups and bowls be gray, no color in the classrooms or artwork hung up, and everyone was required to wear all black.
The women said the director called them “aggressive” when they talked about the issues. They, “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 teacher said they were terminated in March 2023 without any reason being provided. The two are suing for unspecified damages.
“Kanye West is clearly as bad at running a school as he is at managing his own personal and professional life, enabling an unsafe and illegal school environment for students that also discriminated against the plaintiffs based on their race,” the women’s attorney Ron Zambrano said.