Megan Thee Stallion has been sued by her former cameraman, who has accused her of harassment and creating a hostile work environment.
The lawsuit, which was filed on Tuesday (April 23), alleges that plaintiff Emilio Garcia once witnessed the Houston Hottie having sex with another woman in a moving car while they were traveling in Ibiza.
Per court documents obtained by HipHopDX: “The following day, STALLION inquired whether PLAINTIFF was in the SUV the previous night. PLAINTIFF confirmed that he was in the SUV. Subsequently, STALLION instructed, ‘Don’t ever discuss what you saw.’ STALLION berated and directed her fat-shaming comments towards PLAINTIFF such as ‘Fat Bitch,’ ‘Spit your food out,’ and that ‘You don’t need to be eating.’”
It is important to note that he is suing under California law that states employees who work over a certain number of hours can not be classified as independent contractors.
To that point, the legal paperwork reads: “From the inception of his employment, PLAINTIFF GARCIA was misclassified as an Independent Contractor while working as a Personal Cameraman to DEFENDANT STALLION. PLAINTIFF has been treated as independent contractor by ROC NATION and STALLION ENTERTAINMENT so that he was effectively denied any of the protections an employee would have under California law.”
According to a report by NBC News, Garcia has revealed that his claims are based on harassment that was “so severe or pervasive” that it created a hostile work environment, making his working conditions “intolerable.” He is suing for punitive damages, attorney’s costs, unpaid wages plus interest on the unpaid wages, unpaid overtime wages and other employee benefits at the legal rate.
“I felt uncomfortable. I was kind of frozen, and I was shocked. At kind of just be the overall audacity to do this right, right beside me,” he said.
The photographer, who worked for Meg from 2019 until 2023, also alleges that he was threatened, fat-shamed and berated by her into silence.
He also claims that he was thinking of quitting, but that he was ultimately terminated by the 29-year-old’s management company Roc Nation the night before an assignment, which prompted him to seek legal representation.
“Megan just needs to pay our client what he’s due, own up to her behavior and quit this sort of sexual harassment and fat shaming conduct,” Garcia’s attorney Ron Zambrano said in a statement to the outlet.
“Emilio should never have been put in a position of having to be in the vehicle with her while she had sex with another woman. ‘Inappropriate’ is putting it lightly. Exposing this behavior to employees is definitely illegal.”
Neither Roc Nation nor Megan Thee Stallion have commented on the lawsuit.
Zambrano is also representing one of Lizzo’s backup dancers in a sexual harassment lawsuit against the singer. Earlier this month, he accused the Michigan native of trying to “play the victim” when she announced that she was quitting music.
In a statement obtained by Billboard in early April, he wrote: “It’s a joke that Lizzo would say she is being bullied by the internet when she should instead be taking an honest look at herself.
“Her latest post is just another outburst seeking attention and trying to deflect from her own failings as she continues to blame everyone else for the predicament she is in. Lizzo’s legal and public relations strategy is a failure, so she is desperately trying to play the victim.
He continued: “She has thrown these childish tantrums before. No one actually believes she is quitting music. But she should quit sexually harassing, shaming and bullying her employees and finally accept responsibility for her actions.”
In making his point, he also referenced the recent allegations against Diddy as well as former Nickelodeon executive Dan Schneider.
“She can make all of this go away simply by seizing the opportunity here to set an example, own up to her mistakes, pay what’s due to those she’s wronged and work on becoming a better person,” he concluded. (HipHopDx)
