Third Teacher Added to Donda Academy Lawsuit

Earlier this year two former teachers from Kanye West's Donda Christian Academy filed discrimination and wrongful termination lawsuits against the school, claiming they had been fired in retaliation for reporting safety hazards and issues with the curricula [click here if you missed that]

Now another teacher has been added to the lawsuit...

From The Daily Mail

A third former teacher at Donda Academy - the private school run by Ye, formerly Kanye West - has joined a lawsuit against the rapper in a complaint that alleges health, safety and education code violations, as well as illegal racial discrimination.

An amended complaint was filed Thursday at the Los Angeles Superior Court that added Timanii Meeks to the suit, a teacher who alleges she was fired last year for reporting a number of issues at the school.

The initial suit was brought in April by Cecilia Hailey and her daughter Chekarey Byers, both of whom taught at the private Christian school until being fired in March 2023.

The plaintiffs allege they were fired in retaliation for reporting code violations that include exposed and dangerous electrical wiring, as well as bullying and assaults on campus.

The women also claim that they were discriminated against based on their race and illegally had wages withheld or were improperly paid on more than one occasion. They are seeking in excess of $1million in damages.

'Plaintiff Meeks is informed and believes that the building was not safe for occupants, let alone children,' reads the amended complaint.

Meeks was hired as a substitute teacher in August 2022, and plans were soon put in motion to hire her as a full time teacher in the school's theatre department.

From the beginning of her employment, Meeks says she filed multiple complaints with the principal, vice principal and school director about student safety and building hazards.

'Instead of addressing her complaints, Plaintiff Meeks was simply told, ‘It’s a work in progress,’ and ‘We’re working on the kinks,’' the lawsuit states.

In early October of 2022, Meeks alleged that several parents of students sat in on a math class she was teaching and subsequently complained about the conditions of the classroom.

Specifically, they were concerned that there were no textbooks or educational materials to be found.

Meeks passed the worries along to school director Brianne Cambell, who in turn, allegedly, retaliated against Meeks by having her terminated.

Among the bizarre and unsettling allegations made against the school are that all color, including artwork, was banned from inside classrooms, everyone was forced to wear all black from head to toe and classes were not to be held on the second floor because West was 'afraid of stairs.'

The $15,000-a-year academy, which Byers described as 'like a mental hospital being run by the patients,' was opened by West in California in 2021. Ye now served as the Chief Executive Officer, Secretary and Chief Financial Officer of the institution.

The school was initially opened in Simi Valley, but was then moved to nearby Chatsworth.

Among other disturbing allegations, the suit alleges that teachers were not trained to provide basic life support, that doors were locked from the outside, that students were not given utensils to eat with, and that expired medications were improperly stored.

Students were allegedly banned from using 'crossword puzzles' and 'coloring sheets.' West also would not allow the schoolkids to go outdoors during the day, even for lunch or recess.

'In one incident, a student assaulted an eighth grade student by slapping her, then attempted to assault another teacher. The student had multiple accounts of bullying, both physically and verbally, that had gone without discipline,' according to the complaint.

'Ms. Meeks was fired months before Cecilia Hailey and Chekarey Byers were terminated but all three clearly witnessed the same illegal and disturbing code violations and conduct at the school, and all three were given the same retaliatory and unlawful treatment merely for trying to stand up for the students’ rights to a meaningful education. Donda and Ye now have an established pattern of retaliation, from two independent sources, to contend with.'

According to prior reports, parents at the school were required to sign non-disclosure agreements to enroll their children at the $15,000 per-year academy.