A judge has denied a bid by Ye to trim a lawsuit filed by a home remodeler who alleges the rapper formerly known as Kanye West did not fully compensate the plaintiff for overseeing a renovation project at the entertainer’s Malibu mansion.
Plaintiff Tony Saxon maintains in his Los Angeles Superior Court lawsuit that Ye, 48, agreed to pay him $20,000 per week under a 2021 deal, but only turned over one $20,000 payment and $100,000 for constructions costs.
On Thursday, Judge Brock T. Hammond denied a motion by Ye’s attorneys to pare claims in Saxon’s suit and ordered them to file an answer to the complaint within five days. Neither Ye nor an attorney representing the singer appeared at the hearing.
The judge also ordered the parties to take part in an internal Superior Court mediation program and complete it by Feb. 13. He scheduled a Feb. 9 status conference before him.
Ye’s attorneys had sought dismissal of all portions of the suit that seek compensation, reimbursement, restitution or damages measured by Saxon’s performance involving construction or renovation work.
In his lawsuit, Saxon maintains he was forced to sleep on the mansion floor while acting as a security guard and fired in November 2021 for not complying with Ye’s “dangerous requests” that could cause the plaintiff to be injured.
Saxon maintains he often complained to Ye about various dangers during the remodeling. Saxon alleges that workers unsafely demolished parts of the house with no safety equipment, yet Ye took no action addressing the complaints.
The day Ye fired Saxon, the singer told him, “If you don’t do what I say, you’re not going to work for me, I’m not gonna be your friend anymore and you’ll just see me on TV,” the suit filed in September 2023 states.
When Saxon replied, “I don’t watch TV,” Ye said, “Leave,” the suit states.
In October, Hammond ruled that Ye should pay Saxon $3,320 in sanctions. An attorney for the plaintiff stated in his court papers that the rapper failed to abide by code requirements by delaying the process of serving verified responses to Saxon’s interrogatories posed to him in 2023.
Interrogatories are sets of written questions. A verified response is a formal, written answer to a legal request, such as a court document or discovery request, that is signed under oath to confirm that the information is true and accurate.