A musical artist who is one half of the singing duo THEY was sued by a producer who alleges he was wrongfully fired earlier this year for complaining about his work conditions, including being paid only $7 an hour, suffering disparate treatment because he is Asian and not getting credit for work on a Kasey Musgraves song.
Christopher Ahn’s Los Angeles Superior Court lawsuit against Dante Jones alleges wrongful termination, retaliation, race and sex discrimination and various state labor code allegations. Ahn also is suing THEY LLC, Avant Garden — a record label that is the group’s management company — and Primary Wave, with which Jones signed a publishing deal in 2019.
Ahn seeks unspecified damages in the suit filed Dec. 14. A representative for Jones could not be immediately reached for comment.
Ahn was hired in May 2018 when Jones asked him to come to a studio rented by Avant Garden, the suit states. Ahn performed many different jobs, including writing and recording songs, mixing and producing songs, buying equipment, arranging the recording studio, taking photos and videos, photoshopping pictures for THEY’s social media accounts, cleaning the recording studios and running errands, according to the suit.
He worked 60 to 70 hours weekly and was often required to be ready for any of Jones’ needs, the suit states. Ahn allegedly worked about 5,050 hours from his hiring until his April firing and was paid $35,690, about $7 per hour.
He often worked 10-hour shifts and was rarely allowed to take timely meal breaks or rest periods, the suit states.
Ahn suffered a severe headache, body aches and exhaustion in February from receiving a second coronavirus vaccine shot the day before, but he was not allowed to take the day off from a scheduled studio session, according to the suit. Jones told Ahn he “just needed caffeine to wake up,” the suit states.
Ahn was subjected to regular harassment based on his ethnicity, including comments that Asians are weak, submissive and unmasculine as well as being called “soyboy” and “Asian boy,” the suit states..
Jones, who is Black, said he resented Asians because of their success in the United States, the suit states.
Ahn complained about his work conditions in late 2019 and agreements were reached regarding his concerns, but the conduct toward him did not materially change and Jones’ behavior toward the plaintiff became even more controlling, the suit states.
Jones also made threats of violence toward Ahn, which alarmed the plaintiff so much that he installed security cameras at his home, the suit states. In retaliation for his complaints, Ahn was excluded from credit and compensation for a popular song he worked on for his employer and Musgraves, the suit alleges.
Ahn complained again about his working conditions early this year, but Jones denied any mistreatment, and the plaintiff was fired in April, the suit states.