A former personal assistant who said she was sexually abused by rapper Soulja Boy has accepted a steep reduction in the $250,000 in punitive damages she won as part of an overall $4.25 million verdict, rather than have a retrial on the punitive amount.
Santa Monica Superior Court Judge Mark Epstein had previously given the plaintiff, identified only as Jane Doe, the choice of being content with the smaller amount of $50,000 in lieu of the second trial. On Friday, the woman’s attorneys filed court papers stating that she would take the reduced total.
The judge let stand the verdicts on all other issues. The major portion of the woman’s award, $4 million, was obtained in compensatory damages in winning the case over the 34-year-old “Crank That” singer on April 10. The singer’s real name is DeAndre Cortez Way.
Way is appealing the verdict. In their court papers, Way’s attorneys contended that the singer and the woman had a “consensual, intimate relationship” for about a year and that he never employed her.
In her suit filed in January 2021, the plaintiff said she was hired by Way in December 2018. Her duties included cooking and bringing food and snacks, carrying personal belongings or luggage, styling Way’s hair, driving him and handling travel plans, the suit stated.
Way 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 became romantically involved, but from January 2019 to December 2020 he sexually abused her and did not pay her overtime while also committing other wage and hour violations, her suit alleged.