News

Mar 15, 2024

Former Donda Academy Worker Sues Kanye West, Claims Rapper Hates Glass

By Daniel Kreps A former teacher at Kanye West’s Donda Academy has filed yet another lawsuit against the rapper’s mysterious and ill-fated institution. The lawsuit, filed Thursday in a Los Angeles

By Daniel Kreps

A former teacher at Kanye West’s Donda Academy has filed yet another lawsuit against the rapper’s mysterious and ill-fated institution.

The lawsuit, filed Thursday in a Los Angeles Superior Court by plaintiff Isaiah Meadows and obtained by Rolling Stone, accuses West of breach of contract and labor code violations while also shining additional light on the mayhem behind the closed doors and windowless rooms at the Donda Academy.

According to the lawsuit, Meadows, hired in August 2020 as an assistant principal, says he continually brought up safety concerns about the school when it was in Simi Valley, California, operating under the name Yeezy Christian Academy (YCA) in 2020.

“In the middle of the main classroom, a skylight was left without glass inevitably allowing rain to fall directly inside, where water would soak into the floor, which would lead to a moldy smell for the next few days,” the lawsuit claims. “The skylight was intentionally without glass because WEST expressed that he did not like glass.”

Additionally, “The YCA building would have serious wiring issues, such as exposed telephone and electrical wiring. One time, an electrical fire started near the student eating area where the wire was laid atop the ground, exposed.” The building also allegedly had no working hot water, as well as a septic tank that “would overflow every other day, causing a terrible smell.”

Eventually, in 2021, the YCA moved to nearby Chatsworth, California, and rebranded as Donda Academy, but the issues persisted. “There was no electricity for the first few months,” the lawsuit alleges. “Lessons and activities were done under commercial flood lamps, powered by a generator.

The new location also “did not have glass installed in the windows, leaving the interior of the building exposed to the elements” because “again, West did not like glass.” “Eventually, mesh curtains were put up to cover the window openings, but it did little to keep the cold out,” the lawsuit noted.

The crux of Meadows’ lawsuit, however, is the repayment of $60,000 that he claims West owes him after making Meadows and his family move from North Hollywood to Calabasas; as part of their employment agreement, West offered to pay the roughly $6,000 a month rent on the 14-month lease, but the rapper only paid for the first three months, forcing Meadows to pay the remainder of the lease.

Meadows also lodged complaints about not receiving accurate wage statements and not being paid in a timely matter which, when combined with voicing his concerns about the school’s safety issues, the lawsuit claims led to his abrupt firing from Donda Academy in August 2022, a few months before shit hit the antisemitic fan and the school was closed for the remainder of the 22-23 school year.

“It is just absolutely egregious what is going on at this school,” Meadows’ attorney Ron Zambrano said in a statement. “The unlawful and retaliatory behavior by Mr. West and the school directors have now been documented multiple times by other former employees who never even worked together, but all experienced the same horrendous treatment and witnessed the same serious health, safety and education code violations, while all were subjected to the same fate – wrongful termination – and we plan to hold them accountable.”

Zambrano also represents the three other former teachers suing West and the Donda Academy, claiming the school allegedly fostered a chaotic environment of bullying, health and safety violations, and endless sushi lunches.

A Rolling Stone investigation into the school last year found that, at the time, the school was still not accredited; that the principal and executive director hadn’t previously held a formal position as an educator; and that families sending their children to the school had to sign non-disclosure agreements.