Yeezy is defending his choice to fire an ex-employee, saying he was “justified” in canning a former security guard for not cutting off his locs as a term of employment.
Benjamin Deshon Provo, a former guard at the Donda Academy, filed a lawsuit against West for an unjust and racially motivated termination back in April. New documents obtained by In Touch Weekly yesterday(June 12) state that West and his legal team are looking to have the suit dismissed, denying all of Provo’s claims.
“Defendants are informed and believe, and based on such information and belief allege that Defendants were justified in doing any and/or all of the acts alleged in the Complaint,” the response reads.
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“Ye contends that he had not “authorized, directed or ratified any alleged wrongful behavior” and that his decision to terminate the employee were “undertaken in the good-faith exercise of a legitimate business purpose.” West’s attorneys also allege that Provo “unreasonably failed to utilize, take advantage of, and/or comply with Defendants’ complaint/accommodation procedures.”
Court docs filed in L.A. Superior Court back in April claim that Provo suffered “severe emotional distress” as a result of West’s behavior. Provo also claims that Yeezy would ridicule Black employees who sported locs and says that it was done because of his Muslim faith.
“Kanye and members of his management team subjected Provo and other black employees to less favorable treatment than their white counterparts,” the lawsuit states. “Specifically, Kanye frequently screamed at and berated black employees, while in contrast, he never so much as raised his tone of voice toward white staff.”
West has requested that the lawsuit be thrown out and his attorney fees handled, but the judge has yet to make that ruling.
Provo has not listed any specific amount in damages in his lawsuit.