American rapper Kanye West is facing multi-million-dollar lawsuits when former employees of his Sunday Service show and his first opera production entitled "Nebuchadnezzar" accused him of maltreatment.
The Sun reported that two class-action lawsuits were filed against West in Los Angeles last summer.
The first lawsuit was filed by employment lawyer Frank Kim in August which is in behalf of the 500 performers and the second lawsuit was filed by entertainment attorneys Harris and Ruble on behalf of the other 300 behind-the-scenes staff.
The lawsuits claim that Kanye's employees and staff were underpaid and were not given enough time to rest and eat meals. The legal complaints allege that employees had to stand for long hours and were not provided a service shuttle to return to their homes, according to the Christian Post.
According to strict California employment law, performers and crew members who also worked on the rehearsal are required to be classified as employees, not simply independent contractor which means that the crew from his opera production had legal rights to overtime wages, meal, and rest breaks, but according to the lawsuits that were filed, they didn't get any of this, nor were they paid on time.
A performer from the opera production, Michael Pearson, claimed that he was only being paid a flat rate of $250 per day regardless of the number of hours he has worked. He also claimed that they were not given rest or meal breaks and were "forced to stand or sit on the ground" all weekend because there weren't enough chairs to accommodate all the crew, The Sun reported.
This is just a glimpse of what the 43-year-old American rapper is about to face as lawyers are now tracking down other alleged victims and have dozens of people lined up to join the lawsuit which means that the final tally will be somewhat around 1000 people, sources told The Sun.
"They've got hundreds of people on board already, but they're talking to many, many others, who want to be a part of it. People are very upset about how they were treated, saying it's their worst experience," the source told The Sun.
The source also mentioned that people involved in the lawsuit are asking their friend who has worked on previous Sunday Services who wants to get involved in the case and talk about the horrible experiences they had.
"Now it's about proving that Kanye is the employer and the buck stops with him. Now that there's others coming forward, then the complaint will be amended and be bigger in scope," the insider continued."No one knows how involved Kanye himself was, if he knew what was going on, as it was all so last minute, it was terribly ran."
"Whether it was mismanagement, accidental, or on purpose, this is a very strong case." the source added.
Kanye could be cashing out a million dollars for each lawsuit if he decides to settle, but as much as $30 million if he contests it.
"But Kanye can't have this go to trial, as the jury may not be Kanye fans and just see a rich rapper ripping off normal folk, he can settle for much less or be hit with a $30 million legal bill." the source claimed.
