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Former teachers of Kanye West's Donda Academy, Cecilia Hailey and her daughter Chekarey Byers, filed a lawsuit against Kanye West in April 2023, alleging that they were wrongfully terminated from the academy after they questioned the alleged "unlawful and unsafe practices of the private Christian educational institute." Another Donda Academy teacher, Timanii Meeks, joined in on the case in June 2023, as per Rolling Stone.
Byers and Hailey sought over $1 million in damages for lost wages and emotional distress, as per ABC 7 News.
The two were fired in March 2023 after they were hired in January 2022. West recently settled the case with the mother-daughter duo weeks before it went to trial, as per Los Angeles Superior Court documents obtained by People. The rapper has agreed to a conditional settlement with plaintiffs Cecilia Hailey et al. He must complete his end of the settlement within 45 days, after which the plaintiffs will request a dismissal of the case.
More about Cecilia Hailey and Chekarey Byers' case against Kanye West
Cecilia Hailey and Chekarey Byers, former teachers at Kanye West's Donda Academy, noted several allegedly problematic instances in the academy. In a conversation with The US Sun, Cecilia noted instances of bullying,
"Kids were getting physical; they would fight, the bigger kids would fight with the little kids."
Cecilia also claimed that the rapper wanted the kids to get military training and also teach them how to use guns. When asked about her take on the decision, Hailey said,
"I'm like, 'Are you kidding me? I'm not having my third graders out learning how to shoot rifles, absolutely not. It came up kinda early when I first got there, kinda wanting to know how I felt about the kids learning to march, and how I felt about the kids taking gun classes and rifle classes."
While talking about the school's meal system, Hailey mentioned that Kanye suddenly decided that the students should only be served sushi, and many teachers had to sneak in food after the kids were left starving.
Hailey and Byers also claimed that they were discriminated against for being the only Black staff members and "illegally had wages withheld or were repeatedly improperly paid." Out of the many weird rules of the school, the lawsuit mentioned that the students were banned from wearing any color and ordered to dress in black, head to toe.
The school shut down in June 2024, as per the California Department of Education.
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