Kanye West’s legal issues are growing as a former employee is seeking close to $1 million for unpaid wages and other damages.
This comes on the heels of another former employee’s lawsuit about unpaid wages, along with an upcoming festival with Ye as a headliner being scrapped.
Seeking Nearly $1M
Court documents obtained by TMZ state that Jonathan Monroe, who says he worked as a full-time security guard in 2021 and was not paid all the wages owed, nor was he given overtime pay.
In the lawsuit, Monroe requests damages totaling around $850k.
This would include $7,725 for unpaid overtime, $37,620 in lost wages, $500,000 in lost earnings, $100,000 for his pain and suffering, and $100,000 in punitive damages.
Original Lawsuit
In the original lawsuit, Monroe also claimed he tried to collect the money owed to him in several instances. Instead, he was “given the run-around.”
One particular occasion is noted in the lawsuit, when Ye asked Monroe to fill up the tank of his Lamborghini.
Monroe states, “When I asked for cash or use of his credit card to cover the expense, [Kanye] walked away from me without a response.”
Another Ex-Employee
This is not the first time Kanye West has been ordered to pay an ex-employee.
Tony Saxton filed an unrelated lawsuit against the rapper in September 2023, alleging disability discrimination and multiple labor code violations.
Saxton claimed that Ye subjected him to unsafe and hazardous working conditions, disability discrimination, unpaid wages and reimbursements, and wrongful retaliatory termination.
Saxton claims he was hired as a project manager for Ye’s Malibu property in September 2021. He was also hired as “full-time security” and a “live-in caretaker,” earning $20,000 a week.
However, Saxton alleges he was only given one of those payments. He was forced to sleep in “makeshift conditions” on the property. Plus, he found “empty spaces on the ground and [used] his coat as makeshift bedding.”
The court case resulted in Kanye West paying Tony Saxton $140,000.
Other Struggles
The newest legal issue surrounding Jonathan Monroe comes just as London’s Wireless Festival scrapped its event.
Sponsors started pulling out of the event when it was revealed that Kanye was the headliner. The British government also denied him entry to the U.K.