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Artist News Legal
Kanye West insisted that Donda Academy windows should contain no glass claims former teacher
By Andy Malt | Published on Monday 10 July 2023
A former teacher at Kanye West’s Donda Academy in California has filed a lawsuit claiming that he was fired after raising concerns about safety issues at the school, as well as making complaints regarding changes to his employment terms. Among the list of allegations made in the legal filing is that windows in the school were not glazed because West “did not like glass”.
Isaiah Meadows – who was also an assistant principal at the academy – filed his complaint with the Los Angeles County Superior Court last week.
According to Law360, he claims that as well as having no proper windows – which meant that a skylight had no glass covering so that water fell directly into the school – there were also serious issues with the building’s wiring, which at one point led to an electrical fire.
For several months, he adds, the school had no electricity, with lessons lit by flood lamps powered by a generator. That also meant that there was no hot water in the building, so staff and students were unable to properly wash their hands amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
Meadows’ also alleges there were issues with his pay, and in relation to a commitment West had made to cover his rent, a commitment made after the rapper insisted that the teacher must live nearby the academy.
After joining the school in October 2020 – when it was actually operating as the Yeezy Christian Academy – Meadows says that he was suspended in February 2021 after he raised concerns about the running of the school and called for meetings to discuss the issues.
When he returned, he claims, his pay had been cut and his rent was no longer being paid. Covering the remaining rent payments on his contracted term caused him “severe financial difficulties”, he says. Nonetheless, he continued to work at the school, which later became the Donda Academy. However, shortly before the beginning of the 2022 school year, he was fired.
This is not the first lawsuit filed this year making claims about safety issues at the academy. In April, two other teachers went legal, claiming that they were fired after raising concerns. Their allegations include that students were only served sushi for lunch and that chairs were banned.
Those other allegations made against the school were noted by one of Meadows’ attorneys, Ron Zambrano, in a statement to Law360.
“It is just absolutely egregious what is going on at this school”, he said. “The unlawful and retaliatory behaviour by [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”.
Meadows is suing for breach of contract, breach of good faith and fair dealing, and a load of violations of California’s employment regulations.
