Kanye West’s Donda Academy, a private Christian school in Simi Valley, is facing a new lawsuit.
Cecilia Hailey and her daughter Chekarey Byers are former teachers at the school and are both suing for wrongful termination.
The two women claim they were fired for reporting code violations and also say they are victims of racial discrimination.
The lawsuit alleges that the private academy did not have a cleaning service or a school nurse. When the women addressed their concerns, they were met with “pushback” and were “called ‘aggressive.'”
The women believe that behavior “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.”
“No action was taken to remedy plaintiffs’ complaints regarding sanitation, health, safety or
education standard pursuant to local and state law, which plaintiffs made throughout the entirety of their employment,” the lawsuit reads.
West, who is the school’s CEO, secretary and CFO, is named as a defendant in the complaint along with the academy and three of its directors.
The school is also accused of not providing chairs for students and only serving “one meal of sushi” to kids.
The lawsuit claims there were a number of “unusual rules” at the school as well. West allegedly did not allow crossword puzzles or artwork to be hung on the walls. He also allegedly didn’t allow students to use the second floor because he was “reportedly scared of stairs.”
West, who legally changed his name to Ye, also banned the use of forks and utensils, according to the lawsuit. He also had forbidden people from wearing jewelry.
“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,” said plaintiffs’ attorney Ron Zambrano.
“These egregious violations at Donda Academy are just another example of West’s unusual
behavior, and our clients just won’t stand for it, no matter his celebrity status. Kanye needs to
realize his genius is in creating music, not in school administration.”
Neither West nor the school has commented about the lawsuit.