American superstar, Lizzo has requested that a harassment and discrimination lawsuit made by her former tour wardrobe stylist is dismissed.
The singer, 35, attorneys have filed a motion to dismiss the suit from stylist and clothing designer Asha Daniels, 35, calling her a ‘disgruntled’ employee.
Lizzo’s legal team made the request on Friday, writing that the lawsuit is ‘meritless and salacious’ as per court documents obtained by People.
Her attorney alleged that Daniels ‘failed to perform the work that she was assigned and, eventually, just played hooky and refused to show up for work.’
Asha’s lawsuit against Lizzo came after the singer was also sued by several former dancers, who alleged that they dealt with sexual harassment, fat shaming, and a hostile work environment while being employed by Lizzo.
The documents stated that Asha was let go after ‘abandoning her post’ during Lizzo’s concert in Paris, France.
The attorneys are citing two reasons for the dismissal: it was filed in the wrong location, and Daniels ‘is a New York resident who worked for a Delaware corporation in Europe’ and thus the designer ‘has alleged no nexus to California.’
After Lizzo’s legal team requested the dismissal, Asha‘s attorney Ron Zambrano released a statement, and said the motion is ‘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.’
He went on, ‘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.’
In September Asha opened up about the singer’s alleged ‘sexualized, racially charged, and illegal work environment’ – claiming that she was ‘physically assaulted,’ ‘threatened,’ and told she wasn’t allowed to eat by her manager.
Fashion designer Asha filed a lawsuit against the star in which she alleged that she was physically and verbally abused by her manager, Amanda Nomura, while working for Lizzo.
She made the claims one month after three backup dancers for the hitmaker made a series of shocking allegations against her.
The former backup dancers, Crystal Williams, 24, Noelle Rodriguez, 25, and Arianna Davis, 26, claimed they were forced to attend degrading sex shows and were subjected to other uncomfortable situations while working for the star.
During an interview with ABC News for an episode of the show Impact x Nightline, Asha spoke out about some of the horrible things that she says she endured during her time as one of Lizzo’s employees
‘I’m coming into work with someone who has physically assaulted me, someone who has threatened me, someone who is not allowing me to go eat when I need to eat,’ she alleged in a sneak peak of the sit-down, obtained by The Wrap, seemingly referring to Amanda.
She alleged that Amanda not only said horrible things about her, but about the Good as Hell songstress as well.
‘Amanda would regularly mock both Lizzo and the big girls. She would refer to them as “fat,” just a bevy of really inappropriate things like, “Useless, lazy,”‘ she continued.
‘She would do like a stereotypical black impersonation of them. I even told her, “This is actually really offensive,” and she just laughed it off.’
Asha said she was hired to design outfits for Lizzo and her dancers on her The Special Tour earlier this year, but claimed she was ‘wrongfully terminated’ just two weeks in.
At the time Lizzo’s spokesperson denied Asha’s claims, pointing out that she ‘never actually met or even spoke to’ the star.
However, as a ‘business owner’ herself, Asha told ABC News host Janai Norman that she thinks Lizzo is in-part ‘responsible’ for what she endured.
‘I’m a business owner myself, I was so shocked that Lizzo’s workplace wasn’t in line with who we know as the star Lizzo,’ she concluded.
‘I can say in my own life, I’m responsible for the people who work for me and work on my projects, and I think that everybody else is too.’
In her suit, Asha claimed that she alerted Lizzo’s management team about Amanda’s alleged behavior but said that the singer’s tour manager, Carlina Gugliotta, advised her to privately film Amanda’s conduct.
She said she didn’t follow her suggestion because she found it ‘both unethical and possibly unlawful,’ and was fired soon after.
She is now suing for sexual and racial harassment, in addition to disability discrimination. She is asking for damages which include unpaid wages, loss of earnings, and others.
