Yes, formerly known as Kanye West, will open the Donda Academy in September 2022. The school reportedly shut down the following month, around the time his antisemitic comments caused several brands he had business partnerships with to ‘ cut ties. The closure of the rapper’s non-believing Christian school was apparently temporary, however, and since it has been operating again, former employees have sued him and the school.
Meadows Isaiah filed a lawsuit Thursday for wrongful termination as well as breach of contract, alleging education, health, safety and labor violations, according to Page Six. Meadows was the assistant principal at the 2020 iteration of the school, then known as Yeezy Christian Academy, before later becoming Donda Academy, The Keeper reports. He claims in the filing that there have been a number of issues with the school, including exposed wiring, septic tank issues, and no hot water, a particular problem during a global pandemic.
Perhaps the most unusual accusation is that you don’t like “glass”. On page six, the suit says, “In the middle of the main classroom, a window was left unglazed, inevitably allowing rain to fall directly inside, where water would have -into the floor, which would smell moldy to the next few. days,” specifying, “The sky was intentionally glassless because WEST said he didn’t like glass.”
Meadows said he raised those safety concerns, and was fired. (It was later reported to have been sent back, but it was put down. Vanity Fair has reached out to Ye and Donda Academy for comment.)
In April, former teachers of Donda Academy Cecilia Hailey and Chekarey Byers also filed a lawsuit against Ye and the school, alleging racial discrimination and wrongful termination, Page Six reported at the time. In addition to claiming that they were the only black women employed as teachers at the school, Hailey and Byers said in the filing that they were “scared” of stairs, so classes were not held on them second floor, and he didn’t like regular cleaning. products. According to a copy of the lawsuit provided to Vice, gadgets were not allowed, and the children were served sushi for lunch every day. The suit alleged that the children were not allowed outside during the school day and that the doors were locked from the outside. Crosswords and other puzzles are said to have been banned, which is not the case problem really, just weird.
To keep a running list, Ye is said to be against: crosswalks, glass ceilings, forks, cleaning products, fire safety, and stairs.
According to NBC News, Ye’s lawyer Gregory Suhr said in a recent Los Angeles Superior Court filing, “None of this is true and the allegations discredit the staff and students of Donda Academy and their parents who testify to their superior knowledge.
Lawyers for Donda Academy reportedly said in a separate filing in May that Hailey and Byers’ suit was “very vague, ambiguous and incomprehensible.”
The fate of those lawsuits is still TBD, but Donda Academy is accepting applications for the 2023-2024 school year.
