Kanye West Sued By Former Yeezy Assistant Designer Over Unpaid Wages
May 7 2021, Published 3:17 p.m. ET
Kanye West is being sued by a woman who says she used to work as an assistant designer for the rapper's Yeezy fashion brand, claiming the billionaire husband of Kim Kardashian owes her a slew of unpaid wages.
According to court documents, Kanye and his company allegedly failed to comply with California Labor Code requirements by misclassifying Yeezy employees as independent contractors, thereby depriving them of wages and several other benefits.
In addition to citing her own allegations, Leslie also claims in the filing that Yeezy has a consistent practice of violating Labor Code sections.
Leslie says Yeezy did not pay her for off-the-clock work she performed while on the job site, as well as work-related travel to and from locations like Cody, Wyoming, and Paris, France.
Leslie claims West failed to compensate all of her overtime work hours and says the company did not uphold a policy that provides employees with off-duty meal breaks, as required by California law.
Additionally, Leslie alleges she was not reimbursed for several expenses associated with her compulsory travel, including cell phone and internet usage, all of which she says were required to perform her job's duties.
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Yeezy is also being accused of not keeping payroll records showing employees' total hours worked and paid wages.
Per the filing, Leslie is seeking civil penalties in accordance with the alleged Labor Code violations, attorneys' fees and any additional relief that the court may deem proper and just.
Leslie says she initially filed a claim with California's Labor & Workforce Development Agency in February of this year but that she received no notice of the agency's intention to investigate the matter within 65 calendar days. She claims she's now entitled to commence a civil action lawsuit.
Recently, West's estranged reality star wife also found herself battling legal matters when she got dragged into a federal case involving a "looted, smuggled and illegally exported" ancient Roman sculpture.
But Kardashian insists she had no idea the statue in question was imported in her name.
"Kim never purchased this piece and this is the first that she has learned of its existence," her rep said in a statement earlier this week. "We believe it may have been purchased using her name without authorization and because it was never received, she was unaware of the transaction. We encourage an investigation and hope that it gets returned to the rightful owners."