Kanye West sued for $1m by ex-employee who claims he was forced to work in dangerous conditions and sleep on the floor for months
Tony Saxon claims he had to use his coat as bedding while he worked as a full-time caretaker at a property the rapper owned in
Malibu, California.
Kanye West is being sued by a former employee who claims he was forced to work in dangerous conditions and sleep on the floor of a
property the rapper was renovating.
Tony Saxon claims he is owed $1m (£800,000) in unpaid wages and loss of earnings after working as a project manager, full-time
security, and live-in caretaker at the house in Malibu.
Mr Saxon told Sky News that he was instructed by Kanye West to remove the electricity and windows from the house.
“He wanted it to be like a bomb shelter,” he said. “Ye said to me, ‘This is going to be my bunker, my place to go off the grid and hide’.”
According to the lawsuit filed in the Los Angeles Superior court, West, who has legally changed his name to “Ye”, illegally fired Saxon after he refused to comply with the rapper’s “dangerous” demands.
The lawsuit alleges that Saxon was hired by Ye in September 2021 as a project manager who would also serve as full-time security at the multimillion-dollar beachfront property.
Alongside these roles, his duties would include overseeing construction-related tasks, including cleaning, demolition, hiring contractors and coordinating workers.
Ye had reportedly bought the home for more than $55m (£44m) and then proceeded to have it stripped out to begin an extensive remodel.
As a result of the property being gutted, according to the lawsuit, Saxon spent the entirety of his employment “sleeping in makeshift conditions, finding empty spaces on the ground and using his coat as a makeshift bedding”.
These conditions allegedly persisted despite “constant complaints” from Saxon about his sleeping conditions and other hazards including workers “unsafely demolishing various parts of the house with no safety equipment”.
At one point, Saxon said he was told to bring power generators inside which he refused to do so on safety grounds.
“He said put it inside,” said Saxon, “I said ‘Are you trying to kill me? Are you trying to kill everyone that works here?’ I had to get fresh, and say this is super irresponsible and super dangerous.
“He told me, ‘If you don’t listen to me then you’re an enemy, you’re a Clinton, you’re a Kardashian and I’m not going to be your friend anymore. I’m not going to give you an opportunity anymore’,” Saxon told Sky News.
Saxon claims he was promised payment of $20,000 (£16,000) per week, but after around a month later he had only received one $20,000 payment for his services along with $100,000 (£80,000) for construction costs, according to the complaint.
“He doesn’t pay anyone,” Saxon alleged.
“He gets people to do all this work and drop everything for him and then changes his mind or forgets. Working for Ye was insane. It was the constant shifting and changing dynamic, wondering [which version of Ye] is going to be on the other end of the phone – the nice pastor or the crazy dictator.”
On 22 October 2021, according to the lawsuit, Saxon complained that he was “exhausted” from the long hours and needed time to rest but was ignored by Ye. Shortly after, he claims, he badly injured his back while working but his requests for time off were again ignored.
On 5 November 2021, after Ye had once again allegedly ignored Saxon’s requests for time off, the rapper is said to have demanded all the remaining electrical equipment and windows be removed from the property.
The bed Saxon claims he was forced to use Pic: Tony Saxon
Saxon claims he refused on safety grounds at which point, the lawsuit alleges, Ye threatened him before telling him to “get the hell out” and eventually fired him after he again brought up his unpaid wages.
Saxon’s lawyer, Ron Zambrano, said: “Ye has shown a reckless disregard toward his employees and has flouted the law in unbelievably dangerous ways throughout this entire project at the Malibu house.
“No employee should have to suffer through the sort of working conditions Mr Saxon was forced to endure yet Ye showed no concern and merely wanted the work done, despite the hazardous and unsafe, not to mention illegal, actions he was trying to force the plaintiff to undertake.”
This latest lawsuit comes after several other recently filed complaints against Ye and his Donda Academy Christian school in Southern California, which allege violations of labour laws and educational guidelines, retaliatory practices, unsafe conditions for students, and mismanagement.
The rapper is also being sued by a photographer who accused him of grabbing her phone and throwing it into the street.
Sky News have approached Ye’s representatives for comment.