A former personal assistant to Soulja Boy who won more than $4 million against the rapper in a sexual abuse suit has dropped the attorneys who helped her win the judgment.
According to court papers filed on Monday with Santa Monica Superior Court Judge Mark H. Epstein, the plaintiff, identified only as Jane Doe, is substituting the West Coast Trial Lawyers firm with that of Burris, Nisenbaum, Curry & Lacy. Firm partner DeWitt M. Lacy, a police misconduct practitioner, is her primary attorney.
Doe’s court papers do not state why she is changing attorneys. On Nov. 3, West Coast Trial Lawyers filed a notice of lien in the case in order to secure payment for Doe’s legal services. Among the WCTL firm’s other clients are Arianna Davis, Crystal Williams and Noelle Rodriguez, three former dancers for Lizzo, who accuse the “Truth Hurts” singer of sexual harassment and creating a hostile work environment.
On April 10, a Santa Monica Superior Court jury ordered the 35-year-old “Crank That” singer, whose real name is DeAndre Cortez Way, to pay the plaintiff $4 million in compensatory damages and $250,000 in punitive damages. Identified only as Jane Doe, the plaintiff later accepted a reduction in punitive damages to $50,000 to avoid a retrial on that part of the case.
Doe’s court papers stated that by September, her judgment, with interest, had grown to about $4,252,650.
Soulja Boy alleged he and Doe had a “consensual, intimate relationship” for about a year and that he never employed her. But in her suit filed in January 2021, Doe said she was hired by Soulja Boy in December 2018. Her duties included cooking and bringing food and snacks, carrying personal belongings or luggage, styling the rapper’s hair, driving him and handling travel plans, the suit stated.
Soulja Boy paid the plaintiff $500 weekly for her services and she lived and worked seven days a week, 20 hours daily, at his homes in Malibu and Bell Canyon, the suit stated.
The two allegedly became romantically involved, but from January 2019 to December 2020 he allegedly sexually abused her and did not pay her overtime while also committing other wage and hour violations, her suit alleged.