Kat Von D is seeking about $13,500 in costs in her successful defense against a lawsuit brought by the ex-manager of her now-shuttered High Voltage Tattoo store in West Hollywood, who alleged she was wrongfully fired in 2020 for expressing concerns about her boss’ alleged disregard for coronavirus mandates.
But the former manager, Stephanie Davidson, contends in new court papers filed Wednesday with Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Kevin Brazile in advance of an Aug. 26 hearing that Von D would only be entitled to costs if she could show Davidson filed a frivolous lawsuit.
“Here, Ms. Davidson’s claims were not frivolous and (Von D) has failed to make a showing of such,” Davidson’s attorneys state in their court papers.
After the pandemic caused the shutdown of Von D’s shop, Davidson raised concerns about Von D’s alleged failure to follow required safety protocols, Davidson’s lawyers further state. Even though Von D knew Davidson had type-1 diabetes, Von D continued to refuse to implement needed safety protocols, prompting the plaintiff to report the shop to state health officials and Gov. Gavin Newsom, Davidson’s attorneys further state in their court papers.
But rather than engage in the interactive process so Davidson could safely work, Von D “discriminated against Ms. Davidson based on her disability by terminating her in retaliation for her complaint,” according to Davidson’s legal team’s pleadings.
Last August, Brazile agreed with Von D’s lawyers that there were no triable issues in Davidson’s case against the tattoo artist and removed Von D as a defendant. Davidson sued Von D and High Voltage Tattoo in January 2022.
In his ruling, the judge found that Von D is not the “alter ego” of High Voltage Tattoo and therefore cannot be found liable for the one cause of action Davidson alleged against Von D for retaliation.
Davidson had worked as Von D’s personal assistant when she was employed by Wonderland Inc., then she left for other jobs before being rehired by the tattoo artist as HVT’s general manager, according to the plaintiff’s court papers.
Davidson’s primary duties in her new job consisted of general shop maintenance, answering phone calls and inquiries, booking and coordinating walk-in appointments, setting up tattoo stations, ordering and organizing inventory, handling client payments and pay-outs at the end of the day, and running the shop’s social media account, according to her court papers.
Von D’s real name is Katherine Von Drachenberg and she is the former longtime girlfriend of Long Beach-born 57-year-old reality television personality Jesse James, the founder of West Coast Choppers.
In October 2021, Von D, now 44, announced she was closing High Voltage Tattoo, which was featured on the TLC reality show “LA Ink,” and moving with her family to Indiana.