(NEW YORK) — Lizzo and her team have been hit with another lawsuit claiming a hostile work environment, with allegations including racial and sexual harassment, disability discrimination, illegal retaliatory termination and assault, and more.
Asha Daniels, a professional clothing designer who previously worked for Lizzo and BIG GRRRL BIG TOURING, INC (BGBT) has followed three other former employees in suing their former employer, according to the press release about the new lawsuit filed this week from the plaintiffs’ attorney Ron Zambrano.
Daniels’ lawsuit claims she worked seven days a week from approximately 6 a.m. to 2 a.m., and was frequently denied breaks from her manager, Amanda Nomura, who is named in the lawsuit alongside Lizzo.
According to the lawsuit, Daniels said she witnessed dancers being forced to change with little to no privacy in front of men, that some would allegedly refer to Black women on tour as “dumb,” “useless” and “fat.”
She claims she was also injured by her manager on the job, alleging that she was shoved into a clothing rack according to the complaint.
Daniels also claimed that in a group chat of BGBT team members, an employee sent a picture depicting male genitalia to the chat, and says the image was found “to be comical” by some in management, according to the complaint.
After she told a manager about the alleged issues, Daniels said she was fired “without notice or reason,” according to the lawsuit.
Daniels requests a jury trial, seeking damages such as unpaid wages, loss of earnings, deferred compensation and more.
The lawsuit comes as Lizzo prepares to receive the Quincy Jones Humanitarian Award from the Black Music Action Coalition.
In a statement, Lizzo spokesman Stefan Friedman told ABC News via Lizzo’s lawyer Martin Singer: “As Lizzo receives a Humanitarian Award tonight for the incredible charitable work she has done to lift up all people, an ambulance-chasing lawyer tries to sully this honor by recruiting someone to file a bogus, absurd publicity-stunt lawsuit who, wait for it, never actually met or even spoke with Lizzo.”
“We will pay this as much attention as it deserves. None,” he continued.
Zambrano called the award announced an “architected PR stunt.”
In a separate lawsuit filed in August, dancers Arianna Davis, Crystal Williams and Noelle Rodriguez alleged “sexual, religious and racial harassment, disability discrimination, assault and false imprisonment.”
The trio is represented by Zambrano as well. They are also seeking damages for loss of earnings, unpaid wages, and others to be determined in a jury trial.
Lizzo has denied the claims, adding that the accusations are “coming from former employees who have already publicly admitted that they were told their behavior on tour was inappropriate and unprofessional.”
“I am very open with my sexuality and expressing myself but I cannot accept or allow people to use that openness to make me out to be something I am not,” Lizzo wrote, addressing accusations of sexual harassment.
She later continued, addressing the weight-shaming allegations: “I know what it feels like to be body shamed on a daily basis and would absolutely never criticize or terminate an employee because of their weight.”
Marty Singer, Lizzo’s attorney, called the first lawsuit “specious and without merit” in a statement to ABC News.
ABC News has reached out to Singer, as well as Lizzo’s other representatives for comment on the latest lawsuit. Requests for comment have also been made to Nomura.
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