Troubled rapper Kanye West has been hit with another million-dollar lawsuit. This time, the person alleges that the 21-time Grammy winner fired him for declining to perform a task on one of West’s properties, citing concerns about the potential danger it posed to both his life and his construction team.
Tony Saxon filed a 40-page lawsuit in the Superior Court for the County of Los Angeles on Sept. 13.
He Said, He Said
In the complaint, he says he was hired for $20K a week to be the project manager for the “Jesus Walks” recording artist’s Malibu home in September 2021. In addition to overseeing the building’s remodeling and construction, he was also hired to provide full-time 24/7 security detail for the property, according to RadarOnline and other outlets that have seen claim.
The former employee said he worked 16-hour days, including cleaning construction and demolition work, coordinating all workers, and hiring the contractors for the project.
“Throughout the entirety of Plaintiff’s employment, Plaintiff was sleeping in makeshift conditions, finding empty spaces on the ground, and using his coat as a makeshift bedding. These sleeping arrangements were near open insulation. Plaintiff did not have access to a proper bed or comfortable sleeping environment,” lawyers wrote in the complaint.
The plaintiff claims that this required him to stay overnight on the property — even though it was not up to code and he did not have a secure place to sleep.
He also said that he repeatedly reported to Ye and his team that workers were constantly performing demolition tasks without the proper equipment needed to tear down the parts of the house. Saxon’s alerts regarding the safety hazards, as well as his personal issues directly connected to peculiar job duties West wanted him to perform, were ignored, he claims.
“Throughout the entirety of Plaintiff’s employment, Defendant exhibited a consistent pattern of being unresponsive and difficult to communicate with,” the lawsuit explained. “Defendant’s preference for shorter text messages, bullet points, or PDFs made it challenging for Plaintiff to effectively address and elaborate on numerous key specifics related to the project.”
Saxon would eventually request time off because hurt himself in November, but despite his injury, West insisted on being updated on the house and that he work in dangerous conditions.
However, the straw that broke the camel’s back was when Ye insisted Saxon and his team remove all of the electricity, plumbing, and windows of the mansion and add generators, later that month. When the already-injured project manager refused because of the extreme “danger” it would put his team in.
“Ye wanted no electricity. He only wanted plants, candles, battery lights; and to have everything open and dark. You can’t keep food in that house because you had no refrigerator left. You had no windows. I had seagulls flying in,” Saxon said in an interview about the case.
West lost his cool and insisted that he obey his command or face consequences.
“Despite Plaintiff’s explanations, Defendant persisted, raising his voice, and insisting on moving large generators inside the house, which could potentially lead to a fire hazard. Defendant threatened Plaintiff, claiming he would be considered an enemy if he did not comply. Faced with such dangerous demands, Plaintiff chose not to put others and himself at risk and was subsequently told by Defendant to ‘get the hell out,’” he said.
The two went back and forth, with West saying, “If you don’t do what I say, you’re not going to work for me, I’m not gonna be your friend anymore and you’ll just see me on TV.”
Saxon alleges he was fired after this argument.
The rapper wanted to turn the $57 million home into a “bomb shelter,” the complaint says. Saxon claims that his goal was to “hide from the Clintons and the Kardashians.” He wanted this converted bomb shelter to be on a private wifi network and have an alternate source of energy.
Ye’s Space
The Yeezy creator also wanted the space to have no doors, no windows, nor any fixtures … only concrete walls.
Saxon and his lawyers, the same firm hired to represent teachers fired for complaining that he wanted them working in hazardous conditions at West’s private Christian school, Donda Academy, aim to secure more than $1 million in damages and unpaid wages.
