Photo Credit: Erin Cazes / The Come Up Show / CC by 2.0
Lizzo’s attorneys move to dismiss a “meritless and salacious” harassment and discrimination lawsuit filed by a former employee.
On Friday, December 15, Lizzo’s legal team requested to dismiss a harassment and discrimination lawsuit filed by a former employee and clothing designer on the 35-year-old singer’s tour. Asha Daniels filed the suit in September in a Los Angeles court, alleging that Lizzo and members of her team created a “racist and sexualized” work environment, despite preaching inclusion and body positivity.
“I felt like I was living in a madhouse. It was totally shocking,” Daniels told NBC News. “I was listening to this Black woman on this huge stage have this message of self-love and caring for others and being empathetic and being strong and standing up for others. And I was witnessing myself, the dancers and the background vocalists, and my local team in every city be harassed and bullied regularly.”
Meanwhile, Lizzo’s attorneys have requested to dismiss the lawsuit, calling it “meritless and salacious,” alleging that Daniels “failed to perform the work that she was assigned, and eventually, just played hooky and refused to show up for work.” She was terminated after “abandoning her post” the day of Lizzo’s Paris show.
Lizzo’s legal team also claims the lawsuit was filed in the wrong location, as Daniels “is a New York resident who worked for a Delaware corporation in Europe,” and “has alleged no nexus to California.”
Ron Zambrano, a Los Angeles attorney representing Daniels in the lawsuit, said the motion was “another Hail Mary by Lizzo’s team to try to shift blame to the victims, as she has done to the three other plaintiffs who have sued her for similar allegations of harassment, disability discrimination, and retaliatory termination.”
“Lizzo and her lawyers can continue trying to rationalize her illegal and wretched conduct, but we remain committed to seeking justice for our clients, and look forward to our day in court where Lizzo can explain her behavior in a public forum,” Zambrano continues. “Lizzo is the boss, so the buck stops with her.”
“She has created a sexualized and racially charged environment on her tours that her management staff sees as condoning such behavior, and so it continues unchecked,” says Zambrano. “Lizzo certainly knows what’s going on, but chooses not to put an end to this disgusting and illegal conduct, and participates herself.”
A lawsuit filed in August by three of Lizzo’s former dancers alleges that they dealt with similar sexual, racial, and religious harassment during their time on the singer’s tour. Lizzo has denied all the allegations against her on social media.
